Kids in New York keep dying while 'subway surfing' on top of trains. Can they be stopped?
More than a dozen New Yorkers, many young boys, who have been killed or badly injured in recent years while attempting to “subway surf,” a practice that dates back a century but has been supercharged by social media.
NEW YORK — 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 to 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, many young boys, who have been killed or badly injured in recent years while attempting to “subway surf,” a practice that dates back a century but has been supercharged by social media.
Authorities have tried to address the problem with public awareness campaigns 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?”
Rating: 5