The deadly 'game' thrill-seekers can't stop playing... even though they keep on dying

Daily Mail​

26-04-2025

Authorities are begging young New Yorkers to stop participating in a dangerous 'sport' that has taken the lives of 13.
Many videos of mainly young teens climbing onto the tops of subway cars and 'surfing' them as they speed through aboveground stations have circulated social media over the last few years.
But so has the reports of death, leaving families torn apart and authorities begging borough residents to quit the chaos.
Just last week, a 30-year-old man lost his life while subway surfing in the Bronx around 3.15am.
The unidentified man fell between train cars on a Northbound 1 train near the 238th Street Station in Kingsbridge, police said. It took two hours to remove his body from the tracks.
The main victims, however, are typically youths in their early teens, who scurry on top of the cars with their friends after school for a dangerous joy ride.
'These are 12, 13, and 14-year-olds doing this,' an MTA spokesperson told DailyMail.com. 'Nothing good comes of it.'
The MTA is currently not doing interviews about subway surfing and a spokesperson told DailyMail.com that these social media videos are only 'encouraging people' to participate in the risky trend.
Many videos of mainly young teens climbing onto the tops of subway cars and 'surfing' them as they speed through aboveground stations have circulated social media over the last few years. But so has the reports of death, leaving authorities begging residents to quit the chaos
More than 415 people have been arrested for subway surfing between January 1, 2023 and April 15, 2025, NYPD data shared with DailyMail.com showed.
Thirteen have died during the same period.
The NYPD apprehended 229 citizens last year, with 53 of those happening before April 15, 2024. In the same Spring timeframe, two died.
Compared to this year, the number of arrests and fatalities puts 2025 on the same track as the year before with 52 arrests and two fatalities so far. Overall in 2024 there were six deaths.
One of the teenage boys who died from riding atop subway cars was Zackery Nazario in February 2023.
He was riding on top of a train as it soared around the Williamsburg Bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan when his head hit a steel beam, knocking him off the train, and leaving his body laying across live track lines before he was run over by a carriage, The Times reported. He was 15 years old.
Now, his mother, Norma Nazario, has teamed up with the MTA, City Hall, and Governor Kathy Hochul to raise awareness about the dangers of the so-called sport and to encourage people to stop.
Norma sat down with Mayor Eric Adams last June to pay tribute to her son, who wanted to be a Marine and was someone who loved Frank Sinatra.
Now, his mother, Norma Nazario (pictured), has paired up with the MTA, City Hall, and Governor Kathy Hochul to raise awareness about the dangers of the so-called sport and to encourage people to stop
She remembered the excruciating hours she waited for her son to text her back. Around 10pm, she texted Zackery to ask where he was.
Moments later, NYPD officers knocked on her door and her heart went into her throat, she told the mayor.
'I couldn't even speak,' she said.
Adams admitted to Norma that he was 'really shocked by how popular' the trend was on social media.
'It's just really harmful to our children,' he told her.
Norma said young New Yorkers needed to 'stop worrying about followers' and begin thinking about how this could hurt families forever.
'Family and friends are going to be hurt forever, especially your mom,' Norma said.
DailyMail.com has contacted Norma for further comment.
Anthony Bhagwandeen, 15, died riding on top of a subway in Queens. He suffered a severe head injury near Beach 90th Street Station in Rockaway in July 2024.
Just a month before that an unidentified 13-year-old boy was killed while subway surfing in the Bronx.
He lost his life after riding on top of a northbound No. 6 train at the Middletown Road station in Pelham Bay, the NYPD reported.
The deceased child suffered a head trauma, among other injuries.
In January 2024, Alam Reyes, 14, fell off a Coney Island-bound F Train in Brooklyn and died at the scene.
His heartbroken half-brother later revealed that the teenager followed multiple accounts that posted pictures and videos of subway surfing around the city.
All of these deaths prompted the local and state government, alongside the MTA, to launch the 'Stay Inside, Stay Alive' campaign, which advocates against subway surfing, in September 2023.
The NYPD deployed more officers to outside stations, especially along the 7 line, which has the highest number of incidents in the NYC transit system, according to the MTA.
Teachers were also instructed to warn students about the dangers and merchandise was distributed to students with the new motto.
Advertisements appeared in stations and on trains, as well as, on social media and on the backs of some MetroCards.
The organization and the government entities also asked TikTok and Google, among others, to limit visibility on subway surfing videos.
Subway surfing in New York City can be traced back to 1938 when Donald Munoz, 11, and William Layden, 12, fell off the top of a Brooklyn train after it clipped an overpass, The New York Times reported.
They both fractured their skulls after hitting the tracks, killing Munoz and knocking Layden unconscious, the outlet said.
It became popularized in the 1980s and by 1996, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani had declared there was 'no way that you can protect a child who decides to surf on the top of a subway car.'
The deadly trend has now re-popularized in the last few years.
State Senator Leroy Comrie even suggested greasing the tops of subway cars to prevent youngsters from even getting up there, according to The New York Times.
The NYPD has deployed drones that follow subway surfers, but the surveillance doesn't deter the rebellious youth, who wave and flip of the machine, an officer told The New York Times.
Repeat offenders are common in the system and considering most youths won't cop charges, even if arrested, there's little deterrent for them to stop.
Michael, 20, whose last name was withheld, told The New York Times the only way he thinks kids will stop the dangerous thrill-seeking behavior is to show the dead bodies.
'Forget the announcements. They need to start showing the dead bodies of these kids and nail it into their brains that they shouldn't do anything like this for TikTok clout,' he told the outlet.
But for now, it seems, some kids will never learn.