NYC teen caught ‘subway surfing’ days after 15-year-old’s death
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NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Police took a teen into custody after he was caught riding on the outside of a New York City subway train on Wednesday, just days after a 15-year-old boy died while subway surfing.
The 17-year-old was holding onto the back of the last car of a northbound No. 7 train at the Queensboro Plaza subway station around 10:15 p.m., an NYPD spokesman said. He was taken into custody, charged with a misdemeanor, and released to the custody of his parents.
“The NYPD is on it. They arrested a kid last night,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said Thursday about the teen.
Teens have been taking part in a social media “subway surfing” trend.
Lieber said police have been staking out stations where subway surfing tends to happen.
“They haven’t charged every one, but they apprehend the kids who are doing this and they get in touch with the parents and they are doing what they can,” Lieber said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is responsible for operating and security on the trains, is now urging online platforms to remove videos of the dangerous trend.
Videos posted on social media show teenagers walking or even dancing on top of trains as they’re moving.
The MTA said the trend is “out of control.”
Wednesday’s incident comes after the death of Zachary Nazario, who was subway surfing on a train crossing a bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn Monday when he fell and died. He’s the second teenager killed in the last two months while subway surfing.
Last year, NYPD Chief of Transit Jason Wilcox described subway surfing as an “unfortunate trending issue.”
The MTA reported 206 incidents of people riding outside train cars illegally in 2021. The number jumped to 928 in 2022.
A number of people have suffered fatal falls from subway surfing in recent years. In addition to Monday’s death, a 15-year-old boy died while subway surfing in December of 2022. In late 2021, a man fell from the top of a moving J train as it crossed the Williamsburg Bridge. He was run over by the train.
Subway surfer deaths were also reported in 2016 and in 2017. There was also a 2019 subway surfing death. The New York Daily News reported the victim in that incident was a 14-year-old boy.
NewsNation affiliate WPIX contributed to this report.
