New York kids risk lives in 'subway surfing' trend

Two girls who died this weekend are the latest victims of the social media craze.

- BY CEDAR ATTANASIO

A TRAIN SURFER on the roof of a train in New York City, part of a trend that has left young riders dead or injured in recent years.

(SELCUK ACAR Anadolu/Getty Images)

Ka'Von Wooden loved trains. The 15-year-old had an encyclopedic knowledge of New York City's subway system and dreamed of becoming a train operator.

Instead, on a December morning in 2022, Ka'Von died after he climbed onto the roof of a moving J train in Brooklyn and then fell onto the tracks as it headed onto the Williamsburg Bridge.

He is one of more than a dozen New Yorkers, including two girls who died over the weekend, who have been killed or badly injured after falling off speeding trains. Other risks include being crushed between the train and tunnel walls and being electrocuted by high-voltage subway tracks.

"Subway surfing" dates back a century, but it has been fueled by social media. Many of the victims have been youths.

Latest tragedy

Early Saturday morning, New York City police found two girls dead — ages 12 and 13 — in what apparently was a subway surfing game that turned fatal, authorities said. Metropolitan Transportation Authority President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement that "getting on top of a subway car isn't 'surfing' — it's suicide."

Authorities have tried to address the problem with public awareness campaigns — including a new one featuring Grammy Award-winning rapper Cardi B — and by deploying drones to catch thrill-seekers in the act. But for some, a more fundamental question is not being addressed: Why are kids like Ka'Von able to climb on top of subway cars in the first place?

"When Ka'Von died ... literally two weeks later, another child died. And another one. That makes no sense," his mother, Y'Vonda Maxwell, told the Associated Press, saying transit and law enforcement officials haven't done enough. "Why should my child have not been the end?"