Mayor Eric Adams addresses the media during Thursday’s press conference. Photo: Shane O’Brien
Oct. 31, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
Mayor Eric Adams, elected officials and members of the NYPD gathered in Woodside Thursday afternoon to issue a “cry for action” against subway surfing – the practice of riding atop moving subway carriages – following the death of a 13-year-old girl along the elevated 7 line in Corona on Sunday night.
Adams, speaking at a press conference at Woodside’s P.S. 11 The Kathryn M. Phelan School at 54-25 Skillman Ave., touted the success of an NYPD drone program aimed at combating the trend of subway surfing among New York City youths.
Since its launch last year, the drone program has observed more than 100 individuals engaged in subway surfing, including one child who was just nine years old.
Adams also renewed a campaign calling on New Yorkers to spread the word about the dangers of subway surfing and urging New Yorkers to report and call out subway surfing when they see it. He further promised to hold social media companies accountable and ensure that footage of subway surfing is swiftly removed from social media platforms.
Adams was speaking following the death of a 13-year-old girl on Sunday night after she fell from a 7 train near the 111th St. subway station in Corona. Her 12-year-old friend was injured in the incident.
The incident marked the sixth death from subway surfing in 2024, an increase from the five people who died while subway surfing in 2023.
Adams warned against the dangers of subway surfing during Thursday’s event, stating that the risks are potentially fatal.
“It sounds harmless, but it is not harmless,” Adams said, speaking within close distance of the elevated 7 line. “That train that you hear behind you is filled with steel, metal. Being on top, if you fall, even if the train is not moving, you have the potential of slipping through the cracks of the train. Just a fall is harmful.”
Last year, the NYPD launched a pilot drone program to combat subway surfing. Since its inception, the program has helped save 114 lives. Individuals who have been apprehended by the program to date range from nine to 33 years old, with an average age of 14.
The program uses data from 311 and 911 calls about subway surfing to place drones in strategic locations and subway surfing hotspots along elevated train lines. Drones capture footage of individuals engaging in subway surfing and NYPD officers nab them when the train pulls into a station. Parents of young subway surfers are then informed of the incident and shown footage of their children riding atop subway cars.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry said the NYPD preferred to use the term “saved” rather than apprehended because parents often take steps to ensure their children refrain from subway surfing in the future, preventing them from coming into harm’s way.
Daughtry recalled one incident at the beginning of the program when a mother was called to her local precinct because her son had been apprehended while subway surfing. He said the woman was initially confrontational and told officers that they had apprehended the wrong boy until she was presented with video footage of the incident.
“You could just see that she was so disappointed at her child because she did not believe her child would do something dumb,” Daughtry said. “Her anger was immediately focused on her kid.”
NYPD drone in flight during a demonstration at Thursday’s press conference. Photo: Shane O’Brien
Daughtry said the drone program will primarily focus on the elevated 7 train line in Queens and the elevated J, M, Z line in Brooklyn, two of the city’s most popular locations for subway surfing. However, the program can be redirected based on data supplied by 911 and 311 calls, and Daughtry hopes to expand the program to all elevated lines in the future.
A particular stretch of the 7 line between Junction Boulevard and 103rd St. is notorious for subway surfing because of the views of the Manhattan skyline, Daughtry said. He commented that the views along that stretch make it particularly encouraging for social media users, with one video drawing more than 45 million views online.
Adams additionally promised to “go after” social media companies, citing a 366 % rise in subway surfing between 2021 and 2022, which he attributed to social media attention.
“We’re going after the social media companies and social media platforms to state they have an obligation not to put profit over public safety,” Adams said Thursday.
NYPD Interim Commissioner Thomas Donlon said the trend of subway surfing was motivated by social media attention.
“We need to think seriously about why our children are motivated by social media and putting their lives at risk on a daily basis, “Donlon said. “This behavior is dangerous, illegal and deadly.”
Norma Nazario, whose 15-year-old son Zackery died while subway surfing on a J train over the Williamsburg Bridge in February 2023, said her son decided to engage in subway surfing after being targeted with subway surfing challenges by social media algorithms.
“Social media companies need to step up, take these videos down and stop pushing harmful challenges to our kids,” Nazario said. “Social media has a role to play here, too, and they’re not doing it. Not one child should lose their life, and no other family should have to live without their beloved child.”
Norma Nazario holds a photo of her son Zackery aloft during Thursday’s press conference. Photo: Shane O’Brien
Adams said the drone technology will help modernize subway patrols, describing the patrol system as “one-dimensional” and outdated. Daughtry, meanwhile, said the drones will also alert the NYPD to antisocial behavior and medical emergencies in subway stations.
Adams said there had been 900 drone flights since the launch of the pilot program, helping to apprehend 114 subway surfers. He described the program as “pennies on the dollar” compared to the expense of losing a child due to subway surfing.
The drone program will run alongside the “Subway Surfing Kills: Ride Inside and Stay Alive” initiative, which was launched last year by Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and the MTA. This initiative includes public service announcements, digital signage, and student-designed graphics warning of the dangers of subway surfing.
The campaign’s electronic fliers were disseminated at all 1,800 New York City Public Schools locations, while anti-subway surfing posters and palm cards were distributed to schools in proximity to the J, M, Z, and 7 train lines.
In February, Adams filed a lawsuit against social media companies over the alleged negative impacts they have had on young people, citing subway surfing as one example. The lawsuit — filed in California Superior Court by the City of New York, the Department of Education and NYC Health + Hospitals — seeks to hold the companies operating TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube accountable for their role in creating the youth mental health crisis in New York City.
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