NYC teen killed while subway surfing on train across Williamsburg Bridge
A 15-year-old boy died while “subway surfing” on a train crossing the Williamsburg Bridge Monday evening, police said.
The teen was riding on the roof of a northbound J train heading across the bridge when he slammed his head on a part of the structure around 6:45 p.m., according to the NYPD.
He fell beneath the train and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The MTA halted J and M train service between the Marcy Av and Delancey St-Essex St stations for several hours as officers investigated. Both trains were still running with delays past 11 p.m., according to the agency.
The victim’s identity has been withheld pending family notification.
In a statement, NYC Transit President Richard Davey warned of the dangers of subway surfing.
“We cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to ride on the outside of trains,” Davey said. “Our hearts go out to loved ones at yet another tragic time. We implore other families to speak with their children on the real dangers of what can seem like a thrill but is too often deadly.”
Multiple young teens were severely injured or killed while subway surfing last year as incidents of the dangerous behavior skyrocketed — due in part to social media, officials said over the summer.
Incidents of people riding outside of subway trains increased by 560% from January to May 2022 for a total of 449 instances compared to 68 during the same period in 2021, according to MTA data. That includes incidents of subway surfing, riding between cars or anywhere else outside a train, the MTA said.
In June, NYPD Transit Chief Jason Wilcox called subway surfing “incredibly dangerous” and noted that most incidents involved young people.
“There [is] nothing fun or funny about this type of activity and we will continue to work towards deterring it,” he said at the time.
Several of the accidents involving the daredevil activity happened on the Williamsburg Bridge.
Most recently, another 15-year-old boy died when he fell from the roof of a J train and landed on the electrified third rail atop the Williamsburg Bridge in early December.
In August, a third 15-year-old boy lost an arm after he fell off a northbound R train at the 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue station in Jackson Heights while trying to climb on top of the car to subway surf.
His arm severed from the elbow down and first responders found the detached arm underneath the train.
Two months earlier, yet another 15-year-old boy suffered severe head trauma when he whacked his head while riding on the roof of a 7 train in Queens. He was found unconscious still atop the train car and was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition.
A year earlier, in October 2021, a 32-year-old man fell to his death from a southbound J train near the Essex Street and Williamsburg Bridge station. Horrified straphangers said they witnessed the man “falling from the train and getting run over.”