NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A teen boy was killed Monday evening while subway surfing across the Williamsburg Bridge, police said.
The 15-year-old was riding atop a J train just before 7 p.m. when his head struck part of the bridge.
He was pronounced dead near the Delancey Street/Essex Street station on the Lower East Side, police said. He has not yet been identified.
The accident impacted J and M train service over the bridge on Monday night.
In a statement Monday, NYC Transit President Richard Davey said: “We cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to ride on the outside of trains. Our hearts go out to loved ones at yet another tragic time. We implore other families to speak with their children on the real dangers of what can seem like a thrill but is too often deadly.”
In December, another 15-year-old boy was killed, also while subway surfing on a J train, near the Marcy Avenue subway station in Williamsburg.
The MTA doesn’t keep data specifically for subway surfing, but it saw a 160% spike in 2022 from 2019 levels in incidents of people riding anywhere outside of train cars. It attributed the spike to social media, with a flurry of subway surfing videos posted in the spring and summer of 2022. By December 2022, the levels had returned to 2019 levels, officials said.
Officials have said the J and 7 lines are particular hotspots for subway surfing. The NYPD has paid particular attention to those lines to prevent young people from attempting to surf trains.
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