New scourge hits New York's subway

'Subway Surfing' isn't a new trend. It originated in New York in the 80s and has recently taken a dramatic turn.

Since 2021, the MTA, the public body that manages the operation of part of the metropolis' public transport, has noted an intensification of the practice. Each year, nearly a thousand people latch onto the roof of a moving subway.

Beyond a kind of recklessness, this resurgence of cases can also be explained by 'Subway Surfers', a smartphone video game in which the player must absolutely evade the police, according to the media outlet France Info. And finally, there's the influence of the internet, with the draw of watching all these clips that go viral on social media.

The trend isn't without danger. 'Subway Surfing' caused 6 deaths in 2024, including an 11-year-old boy who violently hit a metal beam. In 2023, at least 4 people, most often minors, lost their lives. And for those who manage to avoid the worst, they most often end up injured or arrested by the police.

At the end of October 2024, 180 'surfers' were arrested,

Finally, to eradicate the problem, the New York police are now using drones and placing officers at strategic locations in the stations most frequented by these reckless players. The city of New York has also developed an awareness campaign 'Ride inside, stay alive', meaning 'stay on board, stay alive'.

In addition, social media has been asked to remove all videos from their platforms so as not to encourage the practice.

(MH with Olivia Stasse - Source: France Info - Illustration: ©Unsplash)