What is ‘subway surfing’, a challenge that mobilizes authorities in NY

Subway surfing involves several risks, which can be fatal. In addition to the possibility of dying due to the trauma caused by the high-speed fall, young people can be crushed between the train and the tunnel walls and electrocuted by the high-voltage subway tracks.

According to the Associated Press news agency, six people died while carrying out the challenge in 2024, and another five in 2023. According to the New York Police Department, arrests of alleged “subway surfers” rose to 229 last year, up from 135 the year before. The majority of those involved were boys with an average age of around 14 years old. The youngest, however, was 9 years old.

Last Saturday, two girls died while doing the challenge. According to the AP, the girls, aged 12 and 13, were subway surfing and were found unconscious near the Marcy Avenue station, in Brooklyn. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The case mobilized the authorities, especially the MTA — the English acronym for Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the body that operates New York’s public transport system, including the subway.

It’s heartbreaking that two girls left because they somehow thought riding outside a subway car was an acceptable game. Parents, teachers and friends need to make it clear to their loved ones: climbing into a subway car is not ‘surfing’ — it’s suicide. Demetrius Crichlow, president of the MTA, in a statement

Authorities in NY innovate to alert the population

The local government has been working on different fronts to reduce the incidence of the practice. One of the measures adopted is the use of drones, which fly over the carriages to catch any people on the trains. On its social networks, the MTA launched the “Ride inside, stay alive” campaign (something like “Stay inside (the subway), stay alive”).