Brooklyn Heights Resident Martha Atwater Killed in Tragic Accident on Clinton Street

By on February 22, 2013 11:23 pm in Brooklyn Heights, News, Police Blotter, Traffic

A local woman was pronounced dead after she was struck by a vehicle which mounted the sidewalk in front of 200 Clinton St. this evening.

According to police, Martha Atwater, 48, of Remsen St. was struck by the 2011 Honda pickup truck which jumped the curb as it was heading north on Clinton St. from Atlantic Av. at approximately 5:40 p.m., its left side damaging the facade of Bagel Cafe and Two for the Pot. Ms. Atwater was taken to Long Island College Hospital, but could not be saved.

The 53-year-old driver of the vehicle remained at the scene, and was not expected to be charged.

(Publisher’s note: Atwater was involved in many Brooklyn Heights activities including the BHA House Tour. Her blog, Desperately Seeking Jon Stewart, was a very entertaining read. Take a moment to read to it today in her honor.

We at BHB are keeping her and her family in our thoughts and prayers.)

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.


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  • Alan Moskowitz

    I agree. Make a fuss. People drive too fast and nothing is done about it. I live on Remsen and people zoom constantly. Where are the police?! Where are the speed bumps? Where is bloomberg? Outlawing sugar? WTF!

  • Joe A

    Actually there has been a pretty dramatic decrease in fatal accidents in NYC over the last 15 years. In Manhattan there were 99 fatal accidents in 1995. In 2011 that dropped to 46. For Brooklyn those numbers are 123 down to 81. Queens had the biggest drop, from 143 to 67.
    http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/CountyAccidents.asp?Summary=County&State=36

  • Alan Moskowitz

    Really? Like the mother from Fort Greene on a vespa that was hit by a Treasury Dept car.

  • Alan Moskowitz

    One is too many.

  • David on Middagh

    North heights res, this piece and its headline have been edited to include the victim’s name. It started as a “pedestrian death” news flash. That’s why we were already discussing what actually happened and why when people started publishing their remembrances.

  • David on Middagh

    At that intersection, during rush hour, it’s only polite to gun it when you have the light so that traffic doesn’t back up too far down Clinton St. Of course, I’m not a driver, I just observe…

  • http://twitter.com/RKWinvisibleman Robert Wright

    In the year to June 2012, traffic deaths were up 23 per cent, reversing the long-term downward trend: http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.com/2012/10/do-as-you-like-motorists-and-dont-blame.html

  • Alan Moskowitz
  • David on Middagh

    If this killing was indeed the result of a diabetic incident, your railing against the Mayor’s sugar policy would be… would be…

    > crunch< ;eflj ;qoweitamsio;jgapglsdkfg;

    asdl;fjklsdkflskjdflsjkfkl;sdjfl;sfkljfl;askjf
    ;alsfjl2iorjfgio;aner;ga;erioa;uuioereo;rig

  • Alanna

    Very saddened by this. I didn’t know her, but this is also my community and a senseless death rattles us all. Condolences to the family and friends of Martha, may she rest in peace

  • petersteinberg

    Those numbers, if accurate, must be for fatalities for drivers and passengers… Because there have been 31 pedestrian fatalities (from being hit by a vehicle) so far THIS YEAR and we’re only 15% into the year. Last year there were almost 200 pedestrian fatalities.

  • Brklyn Hts res

    If the driver forgot or neglected to take medication or insulin to treat his diabetes, it’s hard to call blacking out and the resulting tragic consequences an “accident.” If he was speeding that’s even more true. Unfortunately, the NYPD will do, at most, a cursory investigation and exonerate the driver. If they haven’t already.

  • Brklyn Hts Rez

    Not correct. AIS has only one or two officers on duty at any time. Crashes only get investigated in the rarest if circumstances. The City Council held a heart-wrenching hearing on the subject last year. Peter Vallone and other members have sponsored legislation calling on NYPD to comply with the law.

  • Wiley E.

    By putting cameras on top of traffic lights, Bloomy is encouraging drivers to speed through yellow lights to avoid getting tickets. More pedestrians are getting hit as a result.

  • TeddyNYC

    It’s horrible what happened to her and her family. I often see vehicles make an aggressive left-hand turn there (and at Hicks) to either make the light or avoid hitting an oncoming vehicle heading west. I hope the family sues this guy because only a reckless, aggressive driver would’ve come up on the sidewalk, based on the behavior of many drivers at that intersection which I’ve observed over many years.

  • petersteinberg

    The national statistics actually shoe the exact opposite. Wherever red light cameras are installed, red light running drops precipitously city-wide and accidents at those intersections with cameras drops dramatically as we’ll.

    I expect that for every person who speeds to beat the camera and causes an accident there are 10 who no longer run the light and cause am accident.

  • Heights Walker

    You’re right! It’s much more respectful to the family for the NYPD to throw up their hands and let the driver walk free, allowing this kind of tragedy to happen again and again.

  • north heights res

    Martha’s name was included in the text of the article in his first incarnation. From beginning, it’s been about her. There’s certainly a place to have a conversation about the NYPD and its policies, but I don’t think it’s on this post.

  • Bklyn Hts Rez

    I find it amazing that people scream and yell about the danger of bikes on the Promenade where no one has been killed, yet can only express sympathy in this case, as if someone getting mowed down on the sidewalk by an SUV is an unavoidable tragedy. Let’s get our priorities straight as a community and work to stop the real danger on our streets and sidewalks.

  • MD

    If this person is crashing his car and killing people because he is blacking out due to his out of control diabetes, he needs to have his license revoked.

  • mlcraryville

    What is amazing is that the driver was apparently immediately released. Were witnesses sought? I expect City Councilman Levin to make sure that this horrifying incident is completely and transparently investigated. We all want to know that the driver and his activities and condition are laid out for all of us neighbors to see. The police are known to arrest a photographer for not having a press pass. The person at the wheel of a lethal accident has to bear the scrutiny due the incident. The victim is entitled to nothing less.

  • mlcraryville

    We could all make a difference by calling Steve Levin at 718-875-5200 and asking him to take the lead in making sure we get a thorough and objective investigation of this hideous case of involuntary manslaughter.

  • David on Middagh

    Martha’s name was not in the headline. That makes a huge difference. (And I don’t think it was in the text, either–I was the first commenter–but I’m not positive.) I will not apologize for the BHB’s rewrites.

  • DerekJetah

    Here’s contact info for Councilman Levin. Please send a note requesting/demanding a thorough investigation.

    slevin@council.nyc.gov

  • bklynzoo

    Stop speculating on the “he was an off duty police officer conspiracy theory” This was a terrible and tragic accident and to make something more of it is not right for her family. I am so tired of the annoying people who are so anti-police. Policemen have a very tough job and most people are too afraid to do a job like that.

  • Marty

    Will there be a memorial service for Martha?

  • Jeff

    bklynzoo, my father was a cop for 20 years in NYC. I was born and bred in Brooklyn. I said what I saw. If you’ve got a problem with that, let me know

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QW53WEE5EBQ6AJ2KPU33D2NU74 Asymptote

    Agree strongly. The cops are happy to let regular citizens kill others with a car.

  • willowtowncop

    I posted this on another thread, which oddly has nothing but posts from people I’ve never seen on this blog before calling for the head of the driver, which makes me think they’re trolls. So I’ll post it again:

    If you want a thorough investigation to be done you have to wait more than a week for the results. Some of you have no concept whatsoever of criminal culpability – someone has to 1. intentionally kill someone (e.g. run them over on purpose) 2. intentionally disregard a known risk and recklessly kill someone (e.g. drunk driving), 3. negligently fail to perceive a risk they should have perceived (e.g. checked that the brakes were working before driving a car). I haven’t heard any evidence of any of these three in this case, unless the driver knew he was prone to passing out while driving and drove anyway. The police/DA would have to be able to prove this before they can make an arrest. Strict liability for traffic accidents is in no one’s best interest.

  • Concerned

    @willowtowncop: Ummm, no, we are not “trolls,” we are concerned individuals who are: 1) Trying to come to grips with the catastrophic demise of a much beloved individual from our community; 2) Smarting from a seemingly superficial police investigation leading to the exoneration of the driver whose actions took this individual’s life! There are a whole slew of investigative actions that should have been done on the scene (examination of the car, analysis of skid marks, drug testing of the driver, interview of the driver, interview of eyewitnesses, and on and on). There should have been even more investigative work after the fact (review of video feeds from businesses in the area; review of the driver’s medical records to corroborate “diabetes,” review if the driver was taking medications and / or other interventions needed to address any such diabetic condition; evaluation of the vehicle to determine whether it was maintained properly, etc., etc.). As a separate matter, how would you have “heard any evidence (of criminal culpability)” if no effort was made to obtain anything but the most superficial evidence? And, obviously, “strict liability for traffic ACCIDENTS is in no one’s best interest!” That’s the whole point. Was this really an accident? My guess is we will never know, because the necessary police investigative work was not done, simply because this type of tragic death is simply not prioritized by the precinct chain of command. And that is infuriating. Am I wrong?

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