NEW YORK — A 15-year-old boy riding on top of the subway as he crossed the Williamsburg Bridge hit his head on a span and fell under the train, authorities said. When the subway fell, he was run over and killed, police added.
This is the second such death in the county in less than 90 days.
The boy, whose identity has not been released, was operating a J train bound for Manhattan shortly before 11 p.m. Monday when he fell, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No other details were immediately available.
It comes about two months after a similar incident in Brooklyn in which another 15-year-old was killed. The teenager was on top of a J train and fell when he came to a halt at the train stop. Avenue Marcy in broad daylight on December 2. The child came into contact with the electrified third rail and was killed.
Around six months earlier, a 15-year-old boy had lost an arm in a similar horrifying incident on Queens Underground in late August. And in mid-June, a wild video surfaced showing people climbing atop a subway train as it crossed the Williamsburg Bridge. There were eight people atop this J-train during the trip in early December. No one was hurt, but the MTA attempted to draw attention at the time to what it described as a disturbing and dangerous growing trend.
According to the transit agency, there have been more than 450 reports of subway navigation system-wide in 2022 alone. That’s more than six times the number reported the previous year (68 ) and nearly five times the 97 reported in 2020, although the past two years may have seen data impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sources said an R line train was leaving the metro station when the boy fell, causing a brutal injury. Police later confirmed that witnesses said the boy and three of his friends were performing risky maneuvers between the carriages. It is not known what happened to the boy, but someone on a train entering the station called 9-1-1 after seeing the boy on the track, who was missing part of his arm.
The teenager was taken to Bellevue Hospital and police initially said the boy was expected to survive.
Detectives were on site for much of the day and want to speak with witnesses to help piece together the events that led to the teenager’s tragic downfall. Police say they have not determined whether charges will be brought.
Train service was halted for a time, with subways bypassing the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station or running express trains.