A teenager who fell 50 feet into a shaft of New York City’s Queensboro Bridge Monday was trying to perform a TikTok challenge, police sources say.
First responders were called to the bridge just before 9 p.m. for a report of a person down a shaft.
The FDNY and the NYPD didn’t know which tower of the bridge the teenager was in when they started searching for him, but firefighters eventually discovered a shoe and blood near an open hatch.
Firefighters had to use ropes and harnesses to get into the shaft and rescue the teenager. He was pulled out just before 11 p.m. and was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
FDNY firefighters had to use ropes and harnesses to rescue a teen who fell 50 feet into a shaft of New York City’s Queensboro Bridge on Feb. 16, 2026.
CBS News New York
“Just mumbling from the severe trauma,” FDNY firefighter Khalid Lee said. “The adrenaline that was felt, it was, it was moving, but this is what we train for.”
In fact, those firefighters say just 30 minutes before the call came in, they had been training on how to rescue a victim from a hole.
According to NYPD sources, the 16-year-old boy told police he was with friends on the bridge, but they left him after he fell. No one else was on the scene when police and firefighters arrived.
The teen’s father told CBS News New York over the phone that his son suffered some head injuries and is medicated, but his condition has improved and he seems to be OK.
No word yet on whether that boy will face charges.