Outrage In Brooklyn After Car Kills Two Kids At Dangerous Corner
Ruth Ann Blumstein, with 4-year-old daughter Abigail, who was killed on Tuesday’s car crash. Blumstein is in stable condition. Image by GoFundMe
Two young children were killed after a car struck them while they were crossing the street in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon, leading transit advocates to call for safer streets in a protest outside a nearby YMCA where Mayor Bill de Blasio frequently works out.
Four-year-old Abigail Blumstein and 1-year-old Joshua Lew were with their mothers Ruth Ann Blumstein, 34, and Lauren Lew, 33, when they were struck at 12:40 p.m. Monday.
The driver, identified as 44-year-old Dorothy Burn, had not been charged as of Tuesday afternoon. Burn’s Volvo was stopped at a red light before beginning to inch into the intersection. Police said that Burn, whose car was cited four previous times for running red lights, began to speed up as pedestrians started to cross.
“There’s a full investigation underway,” de Blasio said. “This loss of life is tragic and painful for all of us, especially parents.”
The children’s mothers, who were also injured in the crash, were rushed to New York Presbyterian Methodist Brooklyn Hospital and are now in stable condition.
Blumstein, who is pregnant, is a Tony Award-winning Broadway actress, better known by her stage name Ruthie Ann Miles. A GoFundMe campaign has already raised more than $170,000 to aid her and her family. A separate page was set up to raise money for Lauren Lew and her family.
The intersection where Monday’s crash occurred, between Fourth and Fifth avenues, has been the scene of 10 traffic injuries since 2014, and one other pedestrian fatality in 2016.
“We have been calling for changes on this street and streets like it for years, and nothing has been done,” Park Slope resident and rally organizer Doug Gordon told amNY.
Contact Haley Cohen at hcohen@forward.com
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