Subway Surfers New York ~UPD~ Download

A screenshot from a video uploaded to TikTok by @big.ebk, which has since been removed, shows subway surfers in New York City. Four teens have died performing the dangerous stunt in the city this year. @big.ebk/TikTok/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

Officials in New York City are trying to put a stop to people climbing aboard the roof of moving subway cars, also known as "subway surfing," amid a rise in accidental deaths. They've repeatedly asked social media companies to take down videos of the stunts to discourage future incidents.

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New York Police Department Chief of Transit Michael Kemper noted the rise in deaths during a public safety briefing last month. He said four teens died in the first six months of 2023, with two more seriously injured. By comparison, there were five suspected subway surfing fatalities between 2018 and 2022, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) spokesperson Michael Cortez.

Kemper also said there have been "dozens of apprehensions and over 70 arrests" involving subway surfing this year. NYPD officers have also gone door to door and to speak with the parents and guardians of identified subway surfers in hopes they can stop their loved ones from participating in the dangerous stunt.

"Our message is clear to anyone who's considering subway surfing. Don't do it," Kemper said at the press briefing. "Not only is it illegal and you will be arrested if caught, but people are literally dying while doing it. The subway system is an unforgiving place and one slip, one misjudgment or one false move, while that is usually followed with life altering or life-ending outcomes, there are no do-overs."

New York City Mayor Eric Adams called on social media companies to ban videos of the dangerous trend after a 14-year-old boy died and another was critically injured while subway surfing in Brooklyn in late June.

NPR reached out to TikTok for comment and asked if the platform would comply with the city's request. TikTok spokesperson Ben Rathe asked NPR for examples of subway surfing on the social media platform, to which NPR provided two. Rathe did not respond and didn't comment on whether the company would ban the videos on its platform.

The two videos NPR cited to TikTok have since been removed, but the screenshot at the top of this page shows a still from a video uploaded by @big.ebk on TikTok, that depicted subway surfers in New York City.

She said she had never talked to her son about the dangers of subway riding, because she didn't even know it was going on or a thing that teens had been doing. The mother blamed social media for driving the behavior in young people.

Roughly six months before that, a 15-year-old boy lost an arm in a terrifying subway surfing incident in Queens in late August. And in mid-June, wild video surfaced showing people riding atop a subway train as it crossed the Williamsburg Bridge. There were eight people on top of that J train during the early December trip. No one was hurt -- but the MTA sought to draw attention at the time to what they described as a concerning -- and escalating -- dangerous trend.

The transit agency doesn't differentiate between reports of subway surfing versus moving between train cars versus other incidents of people riding outside trains, rather grouping them all together into one annual sum. Either way, the number of incidents skyrocketed last year.

While the video is alarming, commuters didn't seem terribly surprised by the stunt. They said recent violent subway crimes had them more concerned than a group of teenagers trying to make a video go viral by recording a stunt.

"The subways have been feeling very unsafe lately and definitely that's more my concern than a couple of kids having fun," said rider Tim Casentini. "What are you gonna do, put rails on top of the subway? It's not gonna work."

While "subway surfing" - the act of riding atop train cars - as New Yorkers call it, has been ongoing since the city's subway system opened back in 1904, NYPD officials have recently renewed the push to keep young boys from performing these stunts, cracking down on those who do and even visiting their families to discourage them from surfing.

Most subway surfers use the gaps between the cars to climb the roof on tracks that are elevated above the ground. The 7-line, which runs past Citi Field, and the J-line which runs over Williamsburg Bridge are particularly attractive to subway surfers because of the views and scenery, says NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper.

The teen, identified as Kavon Wooden, was subway surfing on a J train as it crossed the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan around 11:30 a.m. when he fell from the top and made contact with the third rail, police said.

In a statement, NYC Transit President Richard Davey said, "Riding on top of subway cars is reckless, dumb and dangerous, frequently leading to tragedy for the person, family and friends. We implore parents to speak with their children about what can seem like a game but obviously is not."

The teen was on top of a southbound J subway at the Williamsburg Bridge around 11:25 a.m. when he tumbled underneath the moving train and was killed, cops said. Police sources said the teen struck the third rail.

Over the summer, officials warned of an increase in train surfing among teens and blamed the rise on social media.

In August, a 15-year-old boy lost his arm after he fell off a northbound R train at the 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue station in Jackson Heights while trying to climb on top of the car to subway surf.

Mayor Adams has blamed the rash of subway surfing-related fatalities on social media platforms like TikTok, where kids post videos of themselves performing wild stunts in hopes of gaining internet notoriety.

"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."

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."

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."

MTA figures show three injuries and the one fatality directly were pinned on subway surfing last year. But officials say riding on top of or between subway cars may have been factors in some of the 34 subway system deaths in 2018 that were not classified as suicides.

In response, Librera said the MTA has increased the number of announcements and signs on trains and in stations warning people not to ride outside of trains. New York 1 reported last month that subway surfing has caused more than 2,700 train delays and cancellations since 2017.

Subway Surfers is a classic endless runner game. You play as Jake, who surfs the subways and tries to escape from the grumpy Inspector and his dog. You'll need to dodge trains, trams, obstacles, and more to go as far as you can in this endless running game. Collect coins to unlock power-ups and special gear to help you go further every time in Subway Surfers. Furthermore, coins can be used to unlock different characters and boards. With your keys you can customize the characters and upgrade your hoverboards with special powers. Don't forget to complete the awards, since they give you keys. In 'MyTour' you can collect rewards from completing daily Word Hunts. You can also find missions there. Subway Surfers was created by Sybo in 2012. And till this day it is one of the most popular games online!

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To combat this dangerous behavior, the MTA has partnered with the NYPD and New York City students on a public information campaign to discourage subway surfing. The campaign includes public service announcements recorded by students; digital signage throughout the subway system; handouts for students returning to school in September; and social media posts.

The goal of the campaign is to remind members of the public, especially young people, that riding on top of subway cars is reckless and dangerous, frequently leading to tragedy for the person involved and their loved ones.

MTA data shows dangerous riding outside of subway trains occurs predominantly in the afternoons during warmer months when school is in session, indicating that it has essentially become a dangerous form of after-school activity. In anticipation of an uptick in incidents in September upon the start of the new school year. The campaign includes:

The MTA partnered with NYC Public Schools and DYCD to identify students from schools across the city who created the new campaign. Students from the High School of Art & Design in Manhattan created graphics, animations and artwork that will be seen throughout the subway system and on social media.

Because teenagers frequently post videos of themselves surfing to social media, the MTA has been asking that social media companies, including Meta, Google and TikTok, reduce access to these videos. Since this past spring, the social media companies have removed more than 3,000 videos and photos showing subway surfing. Those companies also are making space on their platforms available to help distribute the new messaging campaign. ff782bc1db