New York City is once again grappling with the deadly rise of subway surfing, a reckless trend in which teenagers climb onto moving trains for an adrenaline rush and social media fame.
The dangerous stunt, glorified on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, has already claimed several lives in 2025. On 4 October, tragedy struck when 12-year-old Zemfira Mukhtarov and 13-year-old Ebba Morina were killed while riding atop a Brooklyn-bound J train. Investigators believe the two girls met online and arranged the late-night escapade that ended in disaster.
