Police: 15-year-old boy killed subway surfing on J train near Williamsburg Bridge
NEW YORK -- Subway surfing resulted in deadly consequences for a teenager in Brooklyn.
Police say he was killed after riding on the roof of a train Monday night.
It happened just before 7 p.m. Witnesses say they watched a 15-year-old climb on top of a J train subway car traveling into Manhattan near the Williamsburg Bridge.
Police say while on top of the subway car, the teen hit a beam, fell onto the tracks and was struck by an oncoming train. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
MTA officials call subway surfing a dangerous game that's becoming far too common.
Just two months ago, also by the Williamsburg Bridge, a similar incident on the J train also ended in tragedy. A 15-year-old died after subway surfing in Brooklyn back in December. Police say the teen was on top of a subway car traveling southbound on the Williamsburg Bridge when he fell and hit an electrified rail.
Last August, another 15-year-old lost his arm after subway surfing on the R train near the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station in Queens. In that case, police say the teen lost his balance and fell between cars onto the tracks, severing his left arm.
In the first several months of 2022, the MTA logged more than 600 incidents of people riding outside of trains -- up drastically compared to both 2021 and 2020, although the number of incidents dropped back to average levels in November and December.
The MTA said it inferred the uptick was due to a viral social media trend in the spring and summer of 2022 of teens posting subway surfing videos online.
The MTA prohibits passengers from climbing outside the subway car, or using the end doors to pass from one car to another, except in an emergency or when directed by police or a conductor.
