A dangerous rooftop stunt on the subway nearly turned fatal in Queens on Wednesday night when a 16-year-old girl riding on top of a Far Rockaway-bound A train slammed into a beam as the train pulled into the Broad Channel station. She was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, where officials said she suffered serious injuries but is expected to survive.
According to New York Daily News, the teen hit an overhead beam as the train slowed into the station, then collapsed on top of the car. Bystanders and emergency crews moved in quickly. A witness identified as Eric Eiler told the outlet he saw the girl writhing on the roof, and that a second young man who had been on top of the train with her jumped down and bolted from the scene before first responders arrived.
A deadly summer pattern
The Broad Channel incident is only the latest in a string of rooftop subway stunts that have left New York families grieving this year. On May 22, 14-year-old Akhi Butler fell from a J train over the Williamsburg Bridge, a case that drew national scrutiny. Reporting by CBS New York detailed that fatal fall, which officials have repeatedly cited as a tragic example of how quickly subway surfing can turn deadly.
City leaders say they are trying to keep teens off train roofs with both outreach and enforcement. The Mayor's Office has pointed to the NYPD's drone-and-response program as one tool that has helped spot and rescue subway surfers before more lives are lost, according to a Mayor's Office release.
Witnesses describe a chaotic scene
Eiler, 56, told New York Daily News the scene on the platform turned tense fast after the train stopped, with riders and station workers scrambling to get help to the teen on the roof. Police said they are investigating what happened. No arrests have been announced, and why the girl and the young man ended up atop the train is still under review.
What officials are urging
Transit officials and safety advocates keep repeating the same message, because the stakes keep getting higher: stay inside the train. The MTA has said it plans to test and install physical barriers on some subway cars to make it harder for people to climb onto the roof, a move aimed squarely at curbing subway surfing. That barrier plan was reported by Patch.
The city is also running its "Ride Inside, Stay Alive" outreach campaign targeting teens. Authorities are asking riders who spot anyone on top of a moving train to call 911 so service can be stopped and subway crews can try to get those riders back to safety before another thrill ride turns into a tragedy.
