Subway surfing deaths have increased in New York this year

NEW YORK (PIX11) – At least six people have died surfing in the subway Police data show that this year there is an increase compared to 2023.

PIX11 News sources say a teenager was killed and another was injured Sunday evening while surfing in the Queens subway. The incident on the 7 train sent New York City reaching a deadly milestone.

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Last year, five people died while surfing on subways across the city, according to the New York Police Department. Police said the city has already recorded six metro surfing deaths two months into the year.

Half of these deaths occurred in the last two months, including an 11-year-old boy who died died surfing on the subway in September in Brooklyn.

Just last week, 13-year-old Adolfo Sanabria Sorzano died of… TikTok subway surfing challenge in Queens, police said.

“Adolfo was a child full of life, full of dreams and hopes, and his passing has left a void that cannot be filled,” Sorzano’s mother said in a message GoFundMe. “(He) tragically lost his life while participating in this terrible TikTok challenge while surfing the subway in New York.”

In addition to these fatal accidents, there are many other subway surfing accidents that have left people injured, such as the 20-year-old who fell from the roof Subway in the Bronx last week.

In 2023, the city launched an education campaign to end subway surfing, asking stallholders to “get inside” to “stay alive.” The MTA continues to work with social media companies to remove subway surfing videos, more than 10,000 of which have already been removed, an MTA spokesperson told PIX11 News in September.

“This is not a game, we have seen the consequences time and time again,” said Demetrius Crichlow, president of New York City Transit. “We just need to plead with parents, teachers, schools, friends and anyone who knows someone who engages in subway surfing… to talk about the consequences.”

According to the MTA, subway stations across the city continue to broadcast announcements every five minutes reminding people not to surf the subways, as well as digital advertisements.

“We really want people to feel like this is a matter of life or death. There are consequences. There is no going back,” Crichlow said.

Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who, after years of reporting in Los Angeles, has been covering New York since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work Here and follow her on Twitter Here.

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