Teen's Subway Surfing Death Is Part Of A 366% Rise In This MTA Problem

NEW YORK CITY — More and more New Yorkers are dying to ride outside of subway trains, data shows.

Incidents in which people rode outside of trains increased 366 percent since 2020, according to MTA data released after a teen's subway surfing death.

The numbers don't specifically count subway surfing incidents, but MTA officials such as Janno Lieber, the agency's chair and CEO, blame a spate of viral videos that show the dangerous activity.

Lieber, during a Wednesday interview on WNYC, called for social media companies to ban subway surfing videos.

"If they were running videos of people playing Russian roulette with live bullets, they would understand the consequences, and this is the equivalent for kids who are encouraged to do this by the glorification video," Lieber said.

Subway surfing and social media became hot topics in New York City, or at least among prominent local officials, this week after a tragic death.

A 15-year-old boy died while subway surfing Monday evening on a J train crossing the Williamsburg Bridge. The teen — Zackery Nazario, as first reported by the New York Daily News — climbed atop the train and was struck by a beam on the bridge.

Nazario fell between subway cars and was run over by the train, according to the report.

The incident prompted swift calls for caution by city and transit officials.

“We cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to ride on the outside of trains," said Richard Davey, president of New York City Transit, in a statement.

"Our hearts go out to loved ones at yet another tragic time. We implore other families to speak with their children on the real dangers of what can seem like a thrill but is too often deadly."

Mayor Eric Adams went farther. He argued Tuesday that the incident and apparent rise in subway surfing stem from viral videos that spread among youths.

Social media's effect on youths and society should be investigated by a presidential commission, Adams argued.

MTA officials did provide some evidence that social media videos are at least partly to blame.

Out-of-train incidents spiked starting in March 2022, going from 32 to 108 in a single month, data shows. That's about when MTA officials said they saw children and teenagers start to post more subway surfing videos.

"Everybody knows that glorifying something like what these kids are doing is increasing the problem," Lieber said.