SUBWAY SURFER’S TALE
Lost eye & now warns NYC kids of its perils
Isa Islam wanted a quick and cheap thrill — but subway surfing nearly led the rookie risk-taker to an early grave.
Islam, then 17, lost his left eye in November 2013 after his head slammed into a metal beam as he clung to the top of an F train barreling into the Fourth AvenueNinth Street station in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It was the first, and last, time the teen went subway surfing.
Nearly 10 years later, Islam, now 27, spoke to The Post — warning kids about the thrill ride that could have killed him: “It’s so deadly, it’s basically attempted murder on yourself, you know what I mean?”
Recent NYC tragedies
The MTA said last week that reports of people riding outside of trains more than quadrupled from 206 in 2021 to 928 last year. Subway surfing has also led to two deaths in the past three months: Zackery Nazario, 15, died last week after hitting his head while crossing the Williamsburg Bridge atop a J train, and in December, Ka’Von Wooden, also 15, died on the same bridge after falling from a J train onto the third rail.
MTA officials say viral clips on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and other platforms during the spring and summer of 2022 contributed to the latest spike in daredevils trying out the stunt.
“Some surfers plainly do it because they just wanna go viral,” said Rey, a 17-year-old from The Bronx who claimed he’s played the dangerous game hundreds of times, primarily on elevated tracks in Queens.
He admitted that online videos play a critical role in the culture — and often leads to copycats.
“So, deleting vids of surfing trains is definitely probably the right approach,” Rey said of recent calls by the MTA to remove the footage from social-media platforms.
“It’s extremely stupid,” Islam told The Post last week of the viral social-media trend. “It is an idiotic action to make; it is not worth it whatsoever, regardless of interest or the excitement.”
Islam was so gravely wounded that one of his two cousins who went with him that day assumed he was dead. His searing pain was so intense that he couldn’t speak while wading in and out of consciousness as blood gushed from his head, he said.
“I’m squirting hot sauce out of my scalp, man,” the Brooklyn native recalled. “I was just fading.”
Islam then spent more than a month in the hospital, ultimately being discharged on Christmas Eve, nearly six weeks after his accident. He lost his left eye and has had “multiple, multiple reconstructive surgeries” in ensuing years, most recently in 2019.
“My intentions to get an adrenaline rush nearly rushed myself into the casket, man,” said Islam, who is now legally blind.
He added the haphazard stunt easily embodies the biggest regret of his young life. Islam been sharing that lesson since 2019 to youngsters nationwide as a motivational speaker for Breaking the Cycle, a New York state-based nonprofit that spreads a “message of nonviolent conflict resolution,” according to its website.
‘It ain’t worth your life’
Maritza Santos, 44, of The Bronx, is also keenly aware of the dangers associated with subway surfing. Her 14-year-old son, Eric Rivera, died in November 2019 while riding atop a train in Queens. She struggles to comprehend why kids keep taking the same risky rides. “I don’t understand how this stuff keeps going on,” Santos said.
Teen subway surfers told The Post they are still mourning the death of Wooden, the 15-year-old from The Bronx who died on Dec. 1.
“Ka’Von was a nice kid, man,” Anthony, a 16-year-old from The Bronx, told The Post. “Ka’Von was very into transit — he always talked about trains and how he liked them.” Wooden, who was autistic, was a “railfan,” Anthony said, or someone fascinated with all facets of trains. His tragic death has prompted some friends to reassess their next possible subway adventure.
“After Ka’Von, I stopped surfing,” Anthony said. “I realized it wasn’t worth the thrill and the feeling.” Rey, meanwhile, is thinking about giving it up after the two
most recent deaths.
“I’mma be done or at least try to quit,” he told The Post. “But it’s a low-key addiction . . . maybe I’ll do it once or twice more, who knows.”
The MTA is now looking to “alter the trajectory” of subway surfing, the transportation agency’s chairman, Janno Lieber, said during a board meeting Thursday. Cops have been “staking out” stations where daredevils tend to start their journey, Lieber said, including elevated lines in Queens and over the Williamsburg Bridge.
Lieber also accused social-media platforms of romanticizing the “incredibly dangerous behavior” by allowing clips to stay online. The MTA chairman said he has upcoming meetings with social-media platforms to address the issue. “They’re glamorizing it, and they’re encouraging it,” Lieber said. “They’re contributing to kids dying.”