Two teens fell from atop a New York City subway train crossing a bridge, leaving one dead and another critically injured, police said.
New York City police responded to a 911 call just before 6 p.m. on May 22 of two people who fell while suspected of subway surfing atop a J train in Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn. Subway surfing is a dangerous trend involving climbing on top of moving train cars.
Officers found a 14-year-old boy with injuries indicating he fell several stories to the street level, and an 18-year-old man who landed on the elevated subway tracks, NYPD told USA TODAY. Both were unconscious and unresponsive.
A subway train moves over the Williamsburg Bridge on March 25, 2020, in New York City.
First responders transported them to Bellevue Hospital, where hospital staff pronounced the 14-year-old boy dead, police said. The 18-year-old was listed in critical condition.
The investigation is ongoing, and the boy’s identity is pending, police said.
“This is a preventable tragedy,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a social media post. “No family should get a phone call like that. Subway surfing is deadly. My heart breaks for the families of these young people.”
Subway surfing has surfaced on social media, with some filming and sharing the dangerous stunt. The trend has caused alarm among city officials for deaths and injuries among youth. Officials launched the “Subway Surfing Kills − Ride Inside, Stay Alive” public information campaign to deter the dangerous activity.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority has worked with social media companies to remove subway surfing videos, while New York City has sued social media companies for harms to youth mental health, citing subway surfing.
New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow called the latest fatal subway surfing incident “heartbreaking.”
“I’m imploring families, friends, teachers, and others coming into contact with teens engaging in these suicidal stunts to get them to stop,” he said in a statement.
A ferry passes beneath the Williamsburg Bridge in New York City. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
NYPD began tracking subway surfing in 2022, when police said the trend began.
In 2025, the city saw five deaths due to subway surfing, NYPD said. There were six deaths in 2024, and five in 2023.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Subway surfing’ in NYC leads to death of teen, officials say