A 13-year-old boy tragically lost his life [1], and an older teen was critically injured in separate subway surfing accidents in the Bronx early Friday morning, marking the latest incidents in this hazardous fad, as reported by police and sources.
The younger teen fell off a northbound 6 train between the Westchester Square and Middletown Road stations in Pelham just before 9 a.m. He was discovered unconscious and unresponsive in the street beneath the elevated tracks and was declared dead at the scene.
Earlier that morning, a 15-year-old boy sustained serious injuries while riding atop another northbound 6 train at the Morris Ave.-Soundview station in Soundview. He was rushed to Jacobi Hospital in critical condition.
These incidents come just days after another 14-year-old boy was critically injured while subway surfing in Queens. On Sunday, he was riding on top of a southbound 7 train when his head struck a beam as the train entered the 111th Street Station around 4:30 p.m. He was transported to Elmhurst Hospital and is currently in stable condition. Posts to X show the nail-biting stunts these kids are pulling across the country, many ending in the closest of calls:
#NYShitty [2]🗽💩; Close Call: A harrowing video captures teens subway surfing, coming dangerously close to an overpass. One teen jumps off just in time, narrowly avoiding injury, while the fate of the other remains uncertain. Authorities urge against such risky behavior. Stay safe… pic.twitter.com/4epmFZmMcv [3]
— New York Shitty (@NyShittyNews) May 17, 2024 [4]
This dangerous trend of subway surfing is becoming increasingly popular among teens pic.twitter.com/xBAmctD1Mv [5]
— Great Wall of Internet (@GreatWallNet) May 9, 2024 [6]
JUST IN: New York's adrenaline junkies have taken their death-defying antics to new heights, literally, by surfing on top of city buses.
This follows recent tragedies, including the death of a teen from subway surfing.
Captured on video blazing down Second Avenue, one… pic.twitter.com/XH5aKX8u1D [7]
— Hank (@HANKonX) April 27, 2024 [8]
Subway surfing has become dangerous among thrill-seeking teens who film their stunts and share the videos on social media. MTA statistics reveal 450 reports of people riding outside of trains, including on top of them, in the first half of 2023, a significant rise from the 262 incidents reported during the same period in 2019.