Subway surfing kills, but have you ever thought of how much it can personally disrupt your day? No, I’m not talking about the game you play on your phone. In real life, subway surfing is the practice of riding on the outside of a moving train, whether it be climbing to the top (the most common method) or hanging onto the side or back. The most popular line for subway surfing is the 7 train, which runs between Flushing-Main Street in Queens and 34 Street-Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan. However, the practice is spotted being carried out on any outdoor portion of the subway.
The vast majority of individuals who subway surf are teenagers, the same age as many students here at HSMSE. Social media is a major motivation behind surfing, as videos of people riding on top of trains lure adolescents lacking fully-developed brains to attempt it themselves. Six people have been killed pulling off the reckless stunt so far this year. The most recent incident occurred on September 16th, 2024, when an 11-year-old boy was riding on top of a G train in Brooklyn between Smith-9th Streets and 4th Avenue-9th Street. Not even rain or snow can stop these daredevils. On August 3rd, 2024, three teens were filmed riding on top of a 7 train in Queens between 40th Street and 33rd Street in pouring rain. These two instances occurred even after the MTA and NYPD launched a campaign in hopes of deterring such deadly behavior. The “Ride Inside, Stay Alive” campaign launched in time for a new school year in September 2023 and included student-made digital advertisements and announcements in various stations across the five boroughs. Announcements were also added onboard 7 trains arriving at select stations on the line including Queensboro Plaza, 74th Street-Broadway, 82nd Street-Jackson Heights, and Mets-Willets Point. NYPD officers were deployed to stations on elevated lines known for surfing and conducted home visits with individuals caught pulling off the stunt. At the time of the campaign’s launch in 2023, there had been five fatalities due to subway surfing, compared to only five total fatalities between 2018 and 2022. The NYPD had carried out enforcement on 87 surfers, triple the amount they had in 2022.
The MTA also began working with social media platforms such as Meta, Google, Instagram, and TikTok to reduce or remove access to videos depicting subway surfing in action. Considering the six subway surfing deaths that have occurred so far this year and that many have still caught surfers in the act, it’s safe to conclude this campaign is ineffective. The consequences of subway surfing are tragic and devastating. While not as important as the lives lost, subway service is also severely impacted. Between 2017 and early 2020, it was reported that subway surfing resulted in more than 2,700 train delays and cancellations. Considering the amount of fatalities and other subway surfing incidents that have occurred within the past two years, one can only imagine how much the amount of delays and cancellations has risen.
Whether teens get injured, killed, or arrested while subway surfing, normal passengers, including those part of our HSMSE community, face a severe impact on their commute. While the severity of said impact depends on the consequences the surfers face, passengers are forced to endure the unnecessary disruptions to service regardless. It’s clear that riders are fed up and I can speak from my personal experiences as well.
One afternoon this past spring, I was riding a Flushing bound 7 train with my friends on my way home from school. Between Hunters Point Avenue and Court Square, a group of teens decided to climb on top of the train. Upon arrival at Court Square, the conductor noticed the daredevils and yelled at them to get down from the top of the train. While attempting to escape arrest, one of them pulled the emergency brakes on the train, causing it to be held in the station for approximately 10-15 minutes.
Personally, I only ended up getting home slightly later than usual and losing some time to work on my homework and study for upcoming tests, but imagine how this incident would’ve come off to a passenger who had to be on time for an extremely important event. Once the 7 train conductor announced that we would be held at Court Square until further notice, other passengers were very visibly more furious than I was and I could only imagine what they could’ve possibly been going through. One could argue that with the subway system being as old as it is, trains are always delayed for various other reasons such as signal problems, switch malfunctions, track fires, and frequent breakdowns. However, all of these reasons are excusable because after all, it takes a lot of work for the MTA to maintain an extremely large subway system that’s 120 years old. Subway surfing on the other hand though? Imagine walking into work or school and having to tell your boss or teacher that you’re extremely late because there was someone riding on the outside of the train. To someone lacking awareness about the reckless trend, how believable would that excuse seem?
Though it’s (hopefully) not a common occurrence in our school, if you’re ever thinking of subway surfing, don’t do it. Think about the broader consequences; you’ll end up in the media, but not for the reason you would’ve hoped. You not only risk your life but also the time of countless passengers who depend on the subway for essential purposes. You don’t want to die for doing something unintelligent and entirely avoidable. The passengers you affected? They might simply remember you as the person who ruined an important day for them. Think about how your loved ones would be devastated if you were taken from our world. Ask yourself, is it worth it? Ride inside, stay alive.