Teen Subway Surfer Loses Limbs in NYC

Police say 18-year-old was trying to climb on top of moving No. 2 train in Harlem, lost her arm and leg
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2024 2:06 PM CST
Teen Subway Surfer Loses Limbs in NYC
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Little Crush Film Co.)

The evening rush hour was a mess at one New York City subway station after a teen lost a leg and an arm after trying to surf on subway cars. Police and MTA officials say the 18-year-old was still in critical condition on Friday morning after attempting to clamber up a moving No. 2 train at the West 135th Street-Lenox Avenue station in Harlem shortly after 6pm ET, reports PIX11. The young woman fell between two cars and onto the tracks and was subsequently hit by a southbound train, according to cops.

Police say the teen was found in one of the subway tunnels with severe injuries to her right arm and right leg and was taken to Harlem Hospital, per the New York Post. The MTA tells the paper that it's tried to get thousands of subway surfing-related posts scrubbed from social media, but it's unclear how successful the agency has been. CNN notes that people attempting the "precarious" stunt have done so for years, with six fatalities so far this year in New York City alone, along with nearly 120 arrests. The NYPD has even deployed drones to try to nab subway surfers—not by apprehending them, per se, but by showing the drone-captured footage to parents of the suspects, often teens or young adults. (More subway stories.)

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