DOT puts traffic lights on deadly Kent Avenue

Young family was killed there in hit-run in March

November 7, 2013 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Nothing could ever bring back Raizy and Nachman Glauber, the young couple killed along with their baby by a hit-run driver on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg earlier this year, but the city is making an effort to ensure that the street where they died is now safer for others.

The deadly stretch of roadway where the Glaubers and their baby son were killed back on March 3 was recently fitted with new safety features, according to Councilman Stephen Levin, who said the Department of Transportation (DOT) agreed to his request to install traffic signals at two intersections – including the corner where the young family lost their lives.

DOT put a traffic signal at the intersection of Kent Avenue and Wilson Street, where the fatal hit run incident took place, and another signal on the corner of Kent Avenue and Hooper Street.

Levin said he had urged the DOT to take steps to prevent future tragedies along Kent Avenue after the hit-and-run that resulted in the deaths of Raizy and Nathan Glauber and their newborn son.

The two traffic signals were expected to be fully operational by Nov. 8.

“Speeding on Kent Avenue has been rampant for too long, threatening the safety of our community and even taking the lives of a young family in a tragic hit-and-run last March. Reckless drivers have been emboldened to turn this neighborhood street into a raceway because of the lack of traffic signals or stop signs,” Levin (D-Williamsburg-Greenpoint) said.

“By installing traffic signals, we will reduce speeding and improve safety along Kent Avenue,” the councilman said.

CBS News Radio 880 reported that the Glaubers, both 21, were only married a year and were expecting their first child when the car service they were riding in was struck by a driver who fled the scene.

The couple was on the way to a hospital because Raizy wasn’t feeling well.

The Glaubers were rushed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead. Doctors at the hospital delivered the baby, a boy, but the infant died.

A suspect, Julio Acevedo, 44, who had fled to Pennsylvania, turned himself in to police a few days after the hit-run tragedy and was brought back to Brooklyn to face charges. He was indicted on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.