A young teenage boy is being mourned following an accident that resulted in his death within the New York subway system.
The MTA revealed someone was killed around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night at the Queensboro Plaza station. The subway system’s verified Twitter account stated that the person was “surfing” on the subway cars.
It was unclear what the teenager was doing at the time they were fatally struck, but an MTA employee told the New York Post “he was either climbing up or down between cars.”
The NYPD opened an investigation immediately after the death. Police sources told CBS that the person was a teenager who was found by MTA employees. The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.
Train service for the 7 and N lines were temporarily affected by the accident, with both lines bypassing the Queensboro Plaza station for several hours.
This is not the first time the act of subway surfing has been in the news in New York recently. Earlier this week, a video spread across social media showing two men riding atop a 7 train in Jackson Heights. That incident led to a swath of delays across the system, though it’s not clear if the men were apprehended by police.
The MTA has been actively discouraging subway surfing, particularly among teenagers. It is illegal to ride on top of the subways, with some being caught and arrested. Back in May at an MTA board meeting, New York City Transit Authority president Andy Byford called it “stupid,” “dangerous” and “selfish.”
The MTA website states people “risk serious injury if you ride on top of the train (surfing) or ride holding onto outside doors (skylarking).” People can also be fined $75 for riding outside a train or extending any part of the body outside of a train, per the New York City Transit Rules of Conduct.
