Assembly Member William Colton urged city to conduct a traffic study on Bath Beach’s Bath Ave. on Feb. 9.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
In the days following the death of an 11-year-old struck by a school bus while walking home from school, Assembly Member William Colton is calling on the city to take a closer look at safety along one of southern Brooklyn’s busiest corridors.
Colton, a Democrat who represents Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights, sent a letter on Feb. 9, urging the city’s Department of Transportation to conduct a comprehensive traffic study of Bath Avenue, where the fatal collision occurred days earlier. A copy of the letter was sent to the mayor’s office.
The victim, Amira Aminova, was a student at I.S. 281. According to officials, she was struck and killed shortly after 3 p.m. on Feb. 5 at the intersection of Bath Avenue and 23rd Avenue. She had the right of way and was in the crosswalk when she was hit by a turning school bus.
The bus driver reportedly told authorities that he was unaware that he had struck a pedestrian and drove away from the scene. In the wake of the accident, the driver has been charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care.
Assembly Member William Colton called on the NYC Department of Transportation to conduct a traffic study for a series of car deaths and injuries along Bath Ave.File photo by Steve Solomonson
“This is a terrible tragedy,” Colton said in a statement. “My heart goes out to her family and friends, who are suffering such tremendous grief at Amira’s death.”
The pol went on to acknowledge the danger the street presents, especially for the neighborhood’s young and elderly populations. Bath Avenue cuts through several densely populated neighborhoods and serves as a major north-south traveling point, with steady vehicle traffic throughout the day. It also borders schools, houses of worship and a senior center.
“The fact is, there have been numerous accidents on Bath Avenue, a busy street near many schools, childcare facilities and religious institutions, as well as the senior center at St. Finbar, and it’s long past time that the city do a study to determine what can be done to make crossing this street safer, to prevent such tragedies in the future,” Colton added.
Data from crashmapper.org underscores those concerns. Between January 2021 and now, injury-causing accidents have occurred at nearly every intersection along Bath Avenue between Bay Parkway and Bay 41st Street, with only two intersections spared.
The data includes another fatal crash in Sept. 2023, at the intersection of Bath Avenue and 25th Avenue, when a 66-year-old woman was struck and killed by a turning pickup truck while crossing the street with her two-year-old granddaughter in a stroller.
A 2023 accident on Bath Avenue and 25th Avenue ended in the death of a 66-year-old woman.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The 2023 death was not an isolated incident. In 2016, a seven-year-old girl riding a scooter was killed after being struck by an armored truck at Bay 23rd Street and Bath Avenue — just blocks from last week’s fatal crash.
Residents and advocates have long pointed to speeding, wide intersections, turning vehicles and limited traffic-calming measures as persistent hazards along the corridor. Alexa Sledge, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit advocacy organization focusing on innovative transportation policies, told Brooklyn Paper they were incredibly supportive of the study.
“We’re in support of anything that will make this intersection and the street safer,” Sledge said. “New York City is dedicated to Vision Zero, which is the idea that every single traffic fatality is a policy, infrastructure or design failure, and this one is no different. And so it’s time to really look at this street and see how we can change it, how we can make it safer for everyone traveling along, yet, no matter if they’re 11-years-old or 90-years-old.”
Colton’s request further calls on the DOT to formally evaluate those conditions and recommend changes that could include signal timing adjustments, improved crosswalks, traffic calming or other safety interventions.
“I am hoping not only that the city initiates a traffic study of Bath Avenue, but that it expedites it,” he said. “The sooner safety measures can be brought to bear along this strip, the better it will be for the many people who live, work and go to school in the area.”