14-year-old boy dies after falling off train while subway surfing in Queens, police say
NEW YORK -- Another local teenager has died in an apparent subway surfing incident.
In what has become all too common a headline, another teenager has died after attempting to ride on top of a moving subway car.
Police said 14-year-old Jevon Fraser was found off the tracks of the 7 line in Queens. He's the latest victim of the trend known as subway surfing.
Investigators said he was with other teens, but it's unclear if they were subway surfing as well.
- Related story: TikTok partly to blame for teens injured, killed in Brooklyn subway surfing incident, Mayor Adams says
"Subway surfing kills," Mayor Eric Adams said last week.
Adams made the remark after two teenagers fell off a moving train in Brooklyn. One of them was killed.
The next day, CBS New York's Doug Williams asked friends and neighbors of the two boys about the trend.
"In my head as a parent, this is really risky behavior. Really high-risk behavior. And I think that we need to start thinking about the mental health of our kids," Ridgewood resident Sabrina Garcia said.
"It's mostly from ... TikTok and Instagram. I've personally seen them on my phone," Zeus Henriquez said. He was a friend of one of the victims. "I think it's mostly 'cause, like, the adrenaline that you get from doing dangerous stuff."
The city says from 2021 to last year, these incidents increased by 366%, and Adams has blamed social media for fueling the dangerous stunt.
Williams asked clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere why kids may feel compelled to do this despite the obvious risks.
"It's attention-getting, it releases a lot of adrenaline, and therefore that's why it may be more attractive," Gardere said. "Doing these sorts of things in order to get more likes ... It is important that we talk to our children about the dangers in the world, one of those being subway surfing, and actually talking about these very tragic cases, as an example of what can happen."
Watch Elijah Westbrook's report
TikTok said they remove any subway surfing content from their platform, and in a statement added "more than 40,000 safety professionals are dedicated to keeping our community safe and work diligently to remove harmful content when found."
A search for "subway surfing" on TikTok came up empty, with a notice that the phrase violates content guidelines.
Maya Perez said her friend Brian lost his life in a similar incident.
"He was a sweet kid, very funny," she said. "Hearing him pass away really affects me because I knew him very well."
MTA officials continue to discourage this kind of behavior.
They said they're working with social media sites like TikTok to stop videos of subway surfing from being posted.
In addition to that, the NYPD is monitoring certain locations where this activity is common.
The MTA sent a statement from NYC Transit President Richard Davey, which read in part, "If you are a teenager and you are engaged in this activity, I am looking at you and imploring you to find something else to do. If you have a friend who you know is engaged in this activity, be brave and talk to them about why this is wrong. And if you are a parent and you think your child is engaged in subway surfing, riding between cars, please tell them it is not a game. Lives are lost. Lives are lost."
