A 14-year-old boy was critically injured Monday after falling from the top of a moving subway train in the Northeast Bronx, police said.
According to the NYPD, the teen was riding atop a northbound 5 train with two others when he fell onto the tracks near the Baychester Avenue station around 4 p.m.
Officers responding to the scene found the teen unconscious and unresponsive, suffering from severe bodily trauma. He was rushed by EMS to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.
Police arrested one of the teen’s companions, a 17-year-old male, at the scene. He was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and third-degree criminal trespassing.
Authorities said the third individual, another teen who had also been riding on top of the train, fled the scene and remains at large.
The NYPD continues to investigate the incident.
This was not the first serious subway surfing injury reported in the Bronx this year.
In January, a 15-year-old boy was hospitalized with a head injury after falling from a northbound 5 train between the East Gun Hill Road and Pelham Parkway stations. He was also stabilized at Jacobi Medical Center, the Bronx Times previously reported.
The dangerous trend has become a growing concern for city officials, particularly after a surge in fatalities linked to subway surfing in 2023. The stunts, often performed for social media attention, have drawn renewed scrutiny from law enforcement and transit agencies alike.
“Subway surfing is not just dangerous, it’s deadly,” NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph M. Gulotta posted Wednesday on social media. “We want our young people to ride inside and stay alive.”
His message echoed the MTA’s ongoing safety campaign, “Ride Inside and Stay Alive,” which aims to deter youth from climbing atop trains. As part of a broader effort, the MTA last week unveiled a new partnership with professional BMX rider Nigel Sylvester, featuring subway surfing survival stories illustrated as comic books—an approach designed to resonate with teens like those involved in Monday’s incident.
The city has also stepped up enforcement through the NYPD’s drone surveillance program, which monitors subway surfing hotspots along the J, M, Z, and 7 train lines in Brooklyn and Queens. When teens are spotted on top of trains, the drones help coordinate police responses to halt service at the next station and safely intervene.
Despite a citywide crackdown and increased public awareness efforts, there have already been two subway surfing deaths in 2025, according to reports.
