By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday urged New Yorkers to call 911 if they see attempts at subway surfing and highlighted the City’s efforts to leverage technology to combat the dangerous trend on the heels of a recent tragic incident that claimed one young New Yorker’s life and injured another.
The NYPD is utilizing 911 call data to deploy joint drone and field response teams of officers to areas experiencing the highest complaints of subway surfing. Using the most accurate information –calls by concerned citizens – these teams deploy drones to canvass moving trains for subway surfers. Once a subway surfer is found, a field team will hold the train at the next station and remove them. To date, this program has helped save the lives of 114 individuals – ranging from 9 years old to 33 years old, with the average age being 14.
In addition to the increased enforcement, New York City is continuing to highlight the “Subway Surfing Kills – Ride Inside, Stay Alive” campaign launched by Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority in September 2023. This comprehensive, multi-channel public information campaign in partnership with the New York City Public Schools, the NYPD, and the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development was designed for and was created by New York City teenagers – putting the youth voice front and center in a peer-to-peer effort to deter this dangerous behavior among young people. The campaign’s electronic fliers were disseminated at all 1,800 New York City Public Schools locations. Additionally, anti-subway surfing posters and palm cards were distributed to schools in proximity to the J, M, Z, and 7 train lines, which garner the most subway surfing complaints.
“Subway Surfing Kills – Ride Inside, Stay Alive” includes public service announcements in stations recorded by students; digital signage across stations; student-created graphics and animations; posters and banners across stations and distributed in schools; physical palm cards distributed at schools and in stations; school swag including planners, pens and pencils, notepads, and sticky notes; social media posts across platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube in the form of posts, reels/shorts, and influencer collaborations; distribution of new student MetroCards accompanied by a “Subway Surfing Kills – Ride Inside, Stay Alive” palm cards; and anti-surfing messages on the back of some MetroCards for sale in subway station MetroCard vending machines. Meta, Google, and TikTok also made space available on their platforms to help amplify the new messaging campaign. Through a partnership with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, Google also made space available for the campaign to play on YouTube.
In February, Adams announced a lawsuit against social media companies for the negative impacts they have had on young people. The lawsuit cited subway surfing as one of the examples. Filed in California Superior Court by the City of New York, the Department of Education, and NYC Health + Hospitals – seeks to hold the companies operating TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube accountable for their role in creating the youth mental health crisis in New York City. The lawsuit alleges that companies intentionally designed their platforms to manipulate and addict children and teens to social media applications.