A teen was caught attempting to subway surf on the back of a 7 train departing from the Queensboro Station plaza in Long Island City. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Feb. 22, 2023, By Zachary Gewelb
A 17-year-old was arrested after he was caught clinging to the back of 7 train departing from the Queensboro Plaza station in Long Island City on Wednesday, just two days after a 15-year-old boy was killed in a subway surfing incident on the Williamsburg Bridge.
Authorities say that officers on patrol at the Queensboro Plaza subway station, within the confines of the 108th Precinct and Transit District 20, saw the male teenager clinging onto the outside of the last car of a Flushing-bound 7 train around 10:15 p.m. on Feb. 22.
The teen, who was not injured, was taken into custody without incident after the officers flagged down the conductor and removed the teen from the train.
The teen was not charged, but a police spokesperson indicated that officers wrote up a juvenile report before releasing him to a guardian.
The incident came two days after a 15-year-old boy was killed in Brooklyn while falling in an attempt to subway surf.
The teenager was riding atop a Manhattan-bound J train around 6.40 p.m. on Feb. 20 when he hit a stationary beam knocking him to the roadbed, according to police. Upon arrival at the scene, responding officers discovered the teen unresponsive under the train. He was pronounced dead by EMS officers.
Following the fatal incident, NYC Transit President Richard Davey said the MTA “cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to ride on the outside of trains.”
Meanwhile, on Feb. 21, Mayor Eric Adams and the MTA called on social media companies to pull down videos of riders surfing on the subway amid a spike in the dangerous and often lethal practice.
“Some of these sites, they’re more addictive than drugs, people can’t get off them. And you start duplicating this behavior,” Adams said at a press conference.
Adams said he plans to launch a public service campaign warning New Yorkers about the dangers of subway surfing.
