Two young girls, aged 12 and 13, lost their lives early on Saturday, October 4, 2025, in a suspected subway surfing incident at Brooklyn’s Marcy Avenue subway station in New York. At about 3:10 a.m., police responded to a 911 call and found the girls unresponsive on top of a J train that had traveled over the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan.
Emergency medical personnel pronounced the two girls dead at the scene.
According to police, the girls appeared to have sustained head injuries from hitting a low beam while on top of the train. The train’s emergency brake activated upon entering the station, leading the conductor to find the girls on the last car’s roof.
Two teenage boys were found on the train and questioned by officers about their connection to the deceased. Witnesses stated that the girls were part of a group of around 15 teenagers inside the train prior to the incident.
One victim has been identified as 12-year-old Zemfira Mukhtarov, who was soon to turn 13. Her sister, Maryam Mukhtarov, aged 11, shared her sorrow, describing Zemfira as her “best friend” and saying, “she was everything for me.”
Zemfira’s mother, Nataliya Rudenko, stated that her daughter had connected with a 13-year-old girl, Ebba Morina, via social media and left their Bay Ridge home for a nighttime “adventure.” Rudenko recognized her daughter’s belongings on TV, confirming Zemfira’s identity.
New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow expressed condolences and highlighted the risks associated with this activity. “Getting on top of a subway car isn’t ‘surfing’ — it’s suicide,” Crichlow remarked, urging communication about the dangers of this behavior.
The incident led to a temporary suspension of J train services between the Myrtle Avenue station in Brooklyn and the Delancey Street-Essex Street station on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, with services resuming at 5:30 a.m.
This incident followed another subway surfing occurrence in Queens, where a 14-year-old boy was hospitalized on October 3 after falling from a Manhattan-bound Number 7 train at the Main Street station. The boy sustained facial injuries and faced a reckless endangerment charge before being released to his parents.
The recent deaths bring New York City’s subway surfing fatalities to five in 2025, nearing the six recorded in 2024 and matching the five from 2023. From 2018 to 2022, five fatalities were noted, indicating a troubling trend.
The NYPD started monitoring subway surfing in 2022 when it gained popularity on social media. Arrests have varied, with 229 in 2024, up from 135 in 2023. However, arrests have decreased by 25 percent this year, totaling 128 through September, compared to 162 during the same period in 2024.
Among recent victims were 15-year-old Carlos Oliver from the Bronx, who died on July 4 after a fall from a southbound Number 7 train at Queensboro Plaza station. In March, 12-year-old Gustavo Guaman-Quizhpilema from Queens died days after being critically injured on top of a Number 7 train at the 111th Street station in Corona.
Efforts to curb this dangerous trend include the NYPD’s deployment of drones over subway lines, which have resulted in around 200 rescues, mostly involving teenagers. By June 2025, officials had rescued subway surfers from trains 52 times before incidents occurred.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority introduced the “Subway Surfing Kills — Ride Inside, Stay Alive” campaign in 2023 to dissuade young people from engaging in the activity. The campaign, featuring Queens-born BMX athlete Nigel Sylvester, includes public service announcements by Bronx native rapper Cardi B.
Social media companies have been engaged in prevention efforts, with platforms like TikTok and Instagram removing videos of individuals riding on train tops. By June 2025, over 1,800 videos had been taken down, according to MTA records.
Legal action has been pursued, as evidenced by Norma Nazario’s wrongful death lawsuit against ByteDance, TikTok, and Meta in 2024. Her 15-year-old son Zackery died in 2023 after a subway surfing incident. The lawsuit argues that social media platforms are designed to expose minors to harmful content, including dangerous challenges.
Transit authorities continue to stress the fatal risks of subway surfing through announcements and awareness campaigns. Crichlow noted the profound impact on both the victims’ families and the transit workers who discovered the deceased.
