A 14-year-old boy was hospitalized in stable condition Monday afternoon after falling from a train while subway surfing at the Hewes Street station in Williamsburg, police said. The fall happened around 3:41 p.m., sending the teen to the track bed below just as J and M trains were running through the station.
Police said the boy landed on the tracks at the Hewes St. station, according to the New York Daily News. A transit source told the paper he was found on the track bed between the Manhattan-bound local track and the center track. The teen was rushed to a local hospital in stable condition, per the same report.
Power Cut Within Minutes
Power to the tracks was cut off about three minutes after the boy was found, the Daily News reported, a step transit crews take to make the area safe for responders working near live rails. The Hewes Street station serves the J and M lines in Williamsburg, a stretch of track that has seen subway surfing incidents before.
Monday's fall adds to a string of recent subway-surfing cases that have alarmed transit officials and families across the city. In May, a 14-year-old boy died and an 18-year-old man was critically injured after subway surfing on the Williamsburg Bridge, according to CBS News. That same report cited NYPD data showing seven people died subway surfing in 2024, though a separate account from the Daily News, citing NYPD figures, put the 2024 death toll at six, compared with five the year before.
A Persistent and Dangerous Trend
Other recent incidents show the danger extends across boroughs. A 14-year-old boy was hospitalized in October 2025 after falling from the roof of a Manhattan-bound No. 7 train in Queens, the Daily News reported. In June 2025, a 14-year-old Bronx subway surfer was critically injured falling from a northbound No. 5 train near the Baychester Avenue stop, per the same outlet. A 16-year-old girl was also seriously hurt subway surfing on a southbound A train at the Broad Channel station in Queens, according to PIX11.
The NYPD has said the average subway surfer is 14 years old, though officers have caught children as young as 9 attempting the stunt, Gothamist reported. The outlet also noted 212 reported train-surfing incidents in 2024 alone, with 14 people injured. Police have reported some progress on enforcement, with subway-surfing arrests down 25% in 2025 through late September compared with the same point the year before, falling from 162 to 128, the Daily News reported.
No further details on the Monday incident at Hewes Street, including the extent of the teen's injuries or the specific hospital treating him, have been released.
