(New York) For years, Ka’Von Wooden’s dream of one day driving a subway train hung on his bedroom wall: a map of Line 6. His mother, Y’Vonda Maxwell, says Ka’Von imagined himself in the driver’s cab, speeding through the subway tunnels. .
Maxwell said Kayvon, a shy 15-year-old from the Bronx with autism, was “fascinated by subway trains.” “He ate it, only thought about it, and only talked about it.”
One December morning, Ka’Von climbs onto the roof of a J-line train bound for Manhattan. Police said that as the train approached the Delancey Street/Essex Street station, Ka’Von fell and hit the third rail, sustaining a serious head injury. Police said paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Kavon’s death is another tragedy related to so-called subway surfing (Subway surfing), a high-risk stunt that involves climbing on top of cars. On Monday evening, it was announced that Zachary Nazzaro, a 15-year-old Manhattan boy, had died after hitting his head on an object while riding on the roof of a Manhattan-bound J-line train and then falling between the cars, NYPD said.
The number of people surfing from cars – for example by climbing onto the roof, riding between cars or hanging from the sides – has more than quadrupled. There were 928 cases in 2022, compared to 206 in 2021 and 490 in 2019, before ridership fell during the pandemic, according to the latest statistics provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a government agency that operates New York’s transit network.
“stupid things”
The TTA does not isolate data from people who ride on train surfaces, which officials say is a small percentage. Richard Davey, president of New York City Transit — the division of the MTA that operates the city’s subways and buses — said he believes the vast majority of accidents occur when people move between cars.
“We cannot stress enough that riding trains abroad is dangerous. Our hearts are with our loved ones at this tragic time,” Mr. Davey said in a statement.
We appeal to other families to talk to their children about the real risks of what may sound exciting, but is often deadly.
Richard Davey, president of New York City Transit, in a statement
Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the circumstances of the boy’s death were “distressing” and that the city will do more to educate young people about the dangers of subway surfing. “You’re a young man. You do crazy things,” he said, adding, “It was a terrible and tragic incident for this young man.”
This phenomenon appears largely unique to New York, whose subway system is extensive and reflects the city’s frantic pace. The Chicago Transit Authority typically receives only a few reports of surfing a year, while the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area has recorded five such incidents in the past two years, according to transportation representatives.
Rolling over train cars is illegal, but the police department does not collect arrest data for this reason. The authority is trying to detect the dangers of surfing on the subway, Davey said, while the police department said in a statement it has increased the police presence at stations and on the platforms — Gov. Cathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have flooded the net with additional officers. In the fall – can “discourage violations of transit rules and regulations, including riding on the outside of subway cars.”
Impress his friends
During interviews with five teenagers who traveled on the subway outside of cars, it was The New York Times Learn that the participants, who tend to be teenagers, according to interviews and videos on social media, typically get on the train like most passengers. Once the train leaves the station, surfers slide between the cars and climb onto the roof. The boys say they usually choose the elevated subway lines, as they can feel the wind and see the city from above.
John, a 15-year-old boy from Queens who asked that only his first name be used for fear of potential legal repercussions, says he was caught surfing in the back of a subway line 6 by police in early 2022 but got off with warning.
Thrill seekers riding on top of subway cars is nothing new; Article from The New York Times 1991 raised this phenomenon at the time. But at a time when social media is so important to social status, teens are under pressure to post bold and eye-catching content, experts say, and videos of young subway surfers have gone viral on TikTok. to get views, Likes“And to get people to engage with your posts, you have to do something crazy,” said psychology professor Kim Jurgens of the University of Denver.
To gain fame with your friends, you need to do something bigger and crazier. We just outdid each other in a really risky place.
Kim Jurgens is Professor of Psychology at the University of Denver
after The New York Times It asked TikTok to comment on its policies on surfing videos and content that might encourage young people to do dangerous things, and several videos of teens surfing in New York disappeared from the platform.
“The safety and well-being of our users is a top priority at TikTok. As we’ve made clear in the guidelines governing our community, we don’t allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies dangerous challenges that could lead to infection,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
Line 7, which runs from Flushing Main Street Station to Station 34 y Street – Hudson Yards, has become a hotspot for surfers, said Sarah Meyer, former director of customer service for the MTA. Stanley Lawson, a train operator with the MTA for nine years, said he took a year’s medical leave after a teenager fell from the train set he was driving. “With Line 7, the top of the train seems to be more crowded than the inside now,” said Lawson.
In September, a video posted to YouTube showed a group of at least 20 teenagers screaming and dancing on the roof of a train running on Line 7.
Ray, a 16-year-old boy from the Bronx, said he was there, but because he was late, he and two friends waited for the next subway train leaving Queensboro Plaza and climbed onto the roof. Once, he said, one of the boys tripped on Ray’s leg and fell. Ray says she grabbed her friend’s hand before he fell onto the tracks.
He said that Ray was surfing almost every day at the time. After her friend’s fall out and news of Ka’Von’s death, Ray only went online once every two weeks. In early January, Ray and his friend who saved him from a fall attended a party for Kavon, laying flowers and lighting candles outside the Manhattan station where he died.
Later that day, Ray’s friend went surfing on the G train, hit his head on the roof of the tunnel and had to be lowered from the train, not far from where the Kavun memorial ceremony was held, according to Ray. He was attacked by police and paramedics who tried to stop the bleeding from his head. This time the boy survived.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
