‘Subway surf’ wipeout kills
Another boy, 14, dies riding on train
A 14-year-old boy was killed Thursday after falling from a Queens 7 train while “subway surfing” — just over a week after another teen died trying the same dangerous stunt, police and sources said.
The teenager in the latest mishap fell off a car near the 33rd Street–Rawson Street station — which is elevated — shortly before 5:30 p.m., according to the NYPD.
Law enforcement sources said the teen was riding on top of the train before he fell onto the platform. The boy was taken to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where he died after suffering a traumatic head injury.
There were no other injuries and the incident remains under investigation.
The tragedy comes just over one week after another 14-year-old, Brian Crespo, was killed while subway surfing on a Manhattanbound L train in Brooklyn.
Crespo and another boy, also 14, were thrown from the top of a car near the Broadway Junction station last Thursday. The two teens ended up underneath the train and were found with “serious trauma to their bodies,” NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper had said.
Crespo was pronounced dead at the scene and the second teen was rushed to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in stable condition.
According to MTA data, there were 52 reports of people riding outside of subway cars in the city in February and 58 in January, the most recent stats available for 2023.
Mayor Adams blamed social media for fueling a rise in the trend of young teenagers trying the dangerous stunt, calling on apps like TikTok to ban such videos. Adams said the number of people subway surfing skyrocketed by 366% between 2021 and 2022.
In March, a 14-year-old boy died after he fell between subway cars in The Bronx while riding on top of a 5 train. A month earlier, 15year-old Zackery Nazario was also killed while riding on a subway car across the Williamsburg Bridge.