Adams Vows Crackdown on Train Surfers After Teen’s Death
by Meir Sternhill
The death of a teenage boy while walking atop a train is leading Mayor Eric Adams to vow action against the dangerous new trend called train surfing.
The 15-year-old boy was standing on top of a J train as it passed over the Brooklyn Bridge early Monday night when he hit his head against part of the bridge and fell off.
“When I heard the story about this one, this particular incident and how it unfolded yesterday, it was just really traumatic,” Adams said at a City Hall press conference, later adding that his administration was planning a course of action against it.
“You know, you’re dumb, you’re young, you do things that are foolish — I mean, I’ve done some foolish things as a young person, you feel invincible,” Adams said. “Our team is going to do a host of things, to bring awareness to speak with other young people and really show how dangerous it is.”
Train surfing, the mayor said, has increased by five-fold since it became relatively widespread during 2020. He blamed social media for helping popularize deadly trends such as train surfing and persuading teens to steal cars for fun.
“I don’t think that we have properly analyzed what social media is doing to us, in general, but specifically to our young people,” he said. He called on President Biden to establish a blue-ribbon commission to study the issue.