An 11-year-old boy died on Monday Park Slope subway station in an apparent subway surfing incident, police said.
The boy fell onto the tracks at the 4th Avenue-9th Street station shortly after 10 a.m. on Sept. 16 after apparently falling from a moving train. According to the New York Post, the boy hit a beam while the train was pulling into the station. First responders pronounced him dead on the scene.
Police have yet to release the victim’s identity, pending family notification.
The tween was at least the sixth New Yorker to die while subway surfing this year, and the second to die at the 4th Avenue-9th Street station. In May, 16-year-old Neisa Herod-Cross was hit by a G train while walking on the tracks at the station.
“It is heartbreaking to hear another life cut short due to subway surfing,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “Sending my prayers to the family of this young New Yorker. We will continue to do everything we can to discourage this dangerous activity, but we need everyone to join our efforts.”
Last fall, the city launched the “Ride Inside, Stay Alive” campaign in an attempt to deter young New Yorkers from riding atop trains after subway surfing fatalities skyrocketed. Four teens were killed while subway surfing in 2023, compared to five over the course of four years between 2018 and 2022. Anti-subway surfing PSAs regularly appear on screens in subway stations and train cars, and are routinely played over the loudspeaker in stations across the city, an MTA spokesperson said.
The agency is also working with social media companies to remove photos and videos of subway surfing, which are believed to spur teens to take part in the risky behavior. More than 10,000 such posts have been removed so far, according to the MTA.
Still, the number of surfing deaths increased in 2024.
The 11-year-old is believed to be the youngest subway surfing victim in the last few years.
“This is another avoidable heart-wrenching reminder that riding outside trains is not a game and the subway is not a social media studio,” said Interim NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow, in a statement. “It should not take more tragic termination of young lives for parents and classmates of those who would climb on top of subway cars to help them comprehend the devastating risk.”
Update 9/17/2024, 12:24 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional information from the MTA.
