1 teen dead, 1 critically hurt after subway surfing on Williamsburg Bridge

One teenager is dead and another was critically hurt after subway surfing on the Williamsburg Bridge on Friday.

Police said they received multiple 911 calls reporting possible juvenile fall victims on the bridge just before 6 p.m.

"I just seen a bunch of paramedics rushing down with the police. They said a little boy subway surfing fell off the train," one witness said.

When officers arrived, they found two teenagers unconscious on the roadbed tracks of the Brooklyn-bound J and M train lines.

Police said a 14-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not been released.

An 18-year-old man was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition.

Police said both teenagers had injuries consistent with falling from an elevated level.

"This is heartbreaking and knowing that riding outside trains is going to end tragically, it's incomprehensible—and pains me as a parent—that it continues to happen. I'm imploring families, friends, teachers, and others coming into contact with teens engaging in these suicidal stunts to get them to stop," NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement.

"Tonight, two young New Yorkers fell while subway surfing on a Brooklyn-bound J train near the Williamsburg Bridge. One teenager is dead. Another is fighting for his life. This is a preventable tragedy. No family should get a phone call like that. Subway surfing is deadly. My heart breaks for the families of these young people," Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote in a post on X.

Data from the NYPD shows seven people died while subway surfing in 2024. In 2025, at least five people were killed subway surfing, including two teenage girls who were found dead on top of a J train.