Two 14-year-old boys killed in separate New York City “subway surfing” incidents in the past two weeks have prompted local authorities to raise concerns about the dangerous practice.
The New York Police Department said 14-year-old Jevon Fraser, of Canarsie, was found unconscious at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday on the elevated train platform of 33 Street and Rawson Street station in the Queens borough of New York City after police responded to a 911 call.
Fraser was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead from injuries that indicated he fell from an elevated height, police said.
Exactly one week earlier, on June 22, two 14-year-old boys were found unresponsive on a train platform in Brooklyn with trauma to their bodies, NYPD said. Brian Crespo was pronounced dead at the scene while his companion survived the fall but was critically injured, police said. Investigators believe the two were riding atop the Manhattan-bound L train as it moved from an elevated track to a tunnel, knocking them both off.
Brian’s mom, Sonia, told the New York Daily News that her son was due to graduate from eighth grade in a few days and wanted to become a detective before he lost his life in a moment of youthful recklessness. Sonia said that her son’s friends encouraged him to perform the stunt and that he gave in to peer pressure.
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Members of the other teen’s family told the New York Daily News that he is recovering but he may never walk again.
While “subway surfing” – the act of riding atop train cars – as New Yorkers call it, has been ongoing since the city’s subway system opened back in 1904, NYPD officials have recently renewed the push to keep young boys from performing these stunts, cracking down on those who do and even visiting their families to discourage them from surfing.
Most subway surfers use the gaps between the cars to climb the roof on tracks that are elevated above the ground. The 7-line, which runs past Citi Field, and the J-line which runs over Williamsburg Bridge are particularly attractive to subway surfers because of the views and scenery, says NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams has blamed the subway surfing deaths on apps such as TikTok.
In a press conference at the Bushwick-Aberdeen station, where the two boys fell last Thursday, Adams said: “Subway surfing kills. It kills. You go online right now, put ‘New York City subway surfing’ — you will see some of what our young people are watching.”
In response to Adams’ remarks, a TikTok spokesperson told CBS News: “This dangerous activity predates our platform, and we strictly remove such content if we see it on TikTok. More than 40,000 safety professionals are dedicated to keeping our community safe and work diligently to remove harmful content when found.”