15-year-old subway surfing in New York falls from train car and dies, officials say

A 15-year-old boy died while subway surfing in New York City on Thursday, Dec. 1, according to local news reports.

The teenager, whose name has not been released, was riding on top of a train in Brooklyn shortly before noon when he fell beneath the car and touched the electrified third rail, according to PIX11, citing police.

Seven hundred people were evacuated from the train, according to the outlet.

First responders pronounced the boy dead at the scene and shut off the track’s power to remove his body, AMNY reported.

A spokesperson for the New York City Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Dec. 2.

Subway surfing, the practice of riding on top of or outside off train cars, is a perilous and growing trend among the city’s young people, according to AMNY.

The number of incidents has surged over the past year, increasing by “560% from January to May of this year compared to the same period in 2021,” according to the New York Post, citing Metropolitan Transportation Authority statistics. The increasing popularity of the risky behavior has been “somewhat” attributed to social media.

Earlier this year, another 15-year-old boy was left unconscious and seriously injured after he was riding on the roof of a New York City train, according to NBC News. And an additional 15-year-old lost his arm in August after falling while subway surfing, Spectrum News reported.

“I would implore anyone who is watching this, to tell your friends, to tell your kids: Do not do this,” NYC Transit President Richard Davey said this summer, according to the Post. “Please, please, please, do something else with your time.”

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