By Michael V. Cusenza
Over half of all subway-surfing apprehensions this year took place in Queens, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
Hizzoner also noted that 44 percent of 2025 subway-surfing removals occurred on the 7-train line.
Adams delivered those numbers on Monday while hailing the 200 rescues have been made through the City Police Department’s drone and enforcement operations targeting subway surfing.
Subway surfing remains an extremely dangerous activity with potentially fatal consequences. The NYPD began tracking this behavior in 2022, when it first emerged, and has since recorded 32 reported aided cases — individuals who required medical assistance — including 16 confirmed deaths. Overall, a total of 63 individuals have been identified as repeat subway surfer offenders, including 18 reoffenders this year alone — demonstrating the persistence of this risky behavior and underscoring the need for sustained youth engagement.
In response to the rise of subway surfing incidents beginning in 2022, the NYPD launched a targeted drone and field response program in November 2023. As part of this effort, the NYPD deploys drones and field response teams to subway lines with the highest rates of subway surfing complaints, using 911 and 311 call data and tips from concerned New Yorkers to identify the most at-risk locations. These drones — equipped with 4K cameras and long-range zoom — provide live aerial surveillance that help officers intervene before a stunt becomes fatal. Once a subway surfer is spotted, officers can alert the next station to stop the train and safely remove the individual from harm’s way.
Officers have already conducted more than 340 drone operations across the subway system since the program’s launch. So far, this year alone, there were 125 deployments that have resulted in individuals being safely removed from moving trains 52 times already. Those removed in 2025 have ranged in age from 11 to 36 years old, with an average age of 15. In previous years, the youngest individual on record to be removed from a train for subway surfing was just nine years old. These operations have helped save lives 200 times by identifying and intervening when individuals were found riding on the top, sides, or rear of train cars.
“Drones are saving lives—from our beaches to our subways—and helping keep New York the safest big city in America,” said Adams. “Subway surfing isn’t a game. It’s deadly, and it’s putting our youth at risk. Thanks to this program, we’ve made 200 rescues, and this year alone, we’ve already safely rescued subway surfers from trains 52 times before tragedy struck. Let me be clear: Riding outside a train is not only dangerous, but it is also a crime, and there is zero tolerance for it. We’ll keep using every tool and every technology to protect our children and build a safer city for all New Yorkers.”
City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch added, “Our drone teams are strategically deployed to hotspot locations where we know these incidents occur, providing eyes above to monitor trains and signaling to patrol units below when a rescue needs to be made. We are not going to wait for the next fatality, it’s our job to use every tool available to change this reckless, deadly behavior, and I thank Mayor Adams for his work to keep our kids safe.”
