Hit-and-Run School Bus Driver Kills 9-Year-Old Boy in South Williamsburg

A hit-and-run school bus driver struck and killed a 9-year-old boy in the Hasidic section of South Williamsburg on Friday morning, police said.

The 49-year-old driver was turning left from southbound Lee Avenue onto Lorimer Street just after 8 a.m. when he fatally struck the boy, later identified as Yoel Jacobowitz, as he crossed the street, an NYPD spokesman said. The driver initially left the scene only to return “after being notified about the incident,” cops said.

Further details were not yet available and NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation squad is investigating, the spokesman said. A funeral service for the boy was held at around 2:30 p.m. and mourners filled the street.

In a statement, Mayor Mamdani said the crash “devastated” him— but did not mention who caused it, choosing passive voice.

“I am devastated by the loss of a 9-year-old boy struck this morning while crossing the street in Williamsburg. My heart is with his family and loved ones as they endure this tragic loss,” the mayor posted on X. “Children should be safe walking around our city, and this horrific road death is a painful reminder that we must continue to use every tool available to make our streets safe for all New Yorkers.”

The crash occurred exactly one week after drivers in the very same area struck and injured three pre-teens — two on foot, one on a kick scooter — in the span of four hours last Friday.

South Williamsburg is one of the most dangerous places to be a pedestrian. Last year, for example, 78 pedestrians were injured in just the small segment of the neighborhood bounded roughly by Broadway, Park Avenue and Kent Avenue.

In a neighborhood with large family sizes, many of the injured are children. But neighborhood leaders have long fought efforts by the Department of Transportation to make roadways safer, even after a 10-year-old girl was killed by an impatient driver.

More recently, neighborhood leaders fought installation of a protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue, convincing the Adams administration to remove three blocks of it. The roadway has been less safe as a result.

DOT also just repaved the five-way intersection of Lee Avenue, Lorimer Street and Wallabout Street, and had not repainted crosswalks and other street markings. Hours after Friday’s incident, Streetsblog observed several bus drivers attempting the same turn from Lee Avenue onto Lorimer Street. Police at the scene used a loudspeaker to urge. pedestrians to “wait on the sidewalk” and “wait for the light before crossing the road.”

School buses like that one used in Friday’s tragedy have high driver cabs, which require extra-vigilance from drivers navigating city streets.

The crash marked the second time this year that a school bus driver killed a child in Brooklyn, after driver Wawa Aurelus struck and killed 11-year-old Amira Aminova in February.

With Emily Lipstein and Sammy Sussman