Demetrius Crichlow says stop subway surfing after J train death — Subway Surfing

A 14-year-old was killed and an 18-year-old was injured after subway surfing on a J train crossing the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan just before 6 p.m. on Friday. The two fell from the train as it crossed the bridge, and the incident was the second consecutive Friday with subway surfing at the same location on that line.

Williamsburg Bridge J train

One person fell from the train onto the tracks on the bridge. The other dropped through the tracks and into a lot on Delancey Street. The falls turned a ride outside the train into a fatal incident for one teenager and a separate injury for the 18-year-old.

Demetrius Crichlow statement

NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said the pattern has to stop. “This is heartbreaking and knowing that riding outside trains is going to end tragically, it's incomprehensible-and pains me as a parent-that it continues to happen. I'm imploring families, friends, teachers, and others coming into contact with teens engaging in these suicidal stunts to get them to stop.”

Second Friday on the line

The same bridge and line had already seen subway surfing the previous Friday. That repeat location puts the latest falls in the middle of a run of incidents on the J train crossing between Brooklyn and Manhattan, with the most recent case ending in one death and one injury before the evening rush had fully started.

For riders and people around teens, Crichlow’s message leaves the next step with families, friends, teachers, and others in contact with them: intervene before another fall happens on the same span.