A man decided to ‘subway surf’ in New York City near the Williamsburg Bridge and is now dead.
via People:
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the New York City Police Department says an unidentified 32-year-old man had jumped on top of the J-train early Saturday morning but lost his footing and fell onto the northbound tracks, where he was hit by an oncoming train.
Police say the man was “unconscious and unresponsive” when they found him underneath the train at around 4:35 a.m. local time. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Service to the J-train was temporarily suspended while the scene was cleared. This particular train runs between Manhattan and Queens, per the MTA website.
The Williamsburg Bridge connects Manhattan and Brooklyn over the East River and is one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city, according to the N.Y.C. Department of Transportation.
“Riding on top of trains is not smart,” MTA spokesperson Tim Minton told CNN.
In 2019, reports of subway surfing were up 15% to 461, according to MTA data obtained by The City. One person, a 14-year-old boy, was killed that year while riding atop a train in Queens.
An investigation into Saturday’s incident is ongoing.
We’re not saying anyone deserves to die, but we ARE saying that this death was completely preventable.
