Subway surfers are stealing MTA conductors' keys and buying them on Amazon, NYPD says

Fatal subway surfing incidents continue across the city’s subway system. NYPD officials said the activity is enabled by easily accessible subway keys, MTA radios, and an underground social media community focused on engagement. Since 2023, 76 people were caught carrying transit keys while subway surfing, and the keys can open the train’s back door. Outreach worker Norma Nazario said teens use stolen skeleton keys to open locked cab doors and sidewalk hatches leading into tunnel areas. Officials said keys are stolen from conductor booths and some can be purchased online. Recent cases include a fatal fall from a J train on the Williamsburg Bridge and multiple teen arrests for riding outside trains and carrying keys. Police reported 17 arrests, two injuries, and no deaths from Jan. 1 through Feb. 9, 2025.

"Fatal subway surfing incidents across the five boroughs have persisted thanks to easily accessible subway keys, MTA radios and an underground, engagement-focused social media community, NYPD officials said on Wednesday."

"Since 2023, 76 people were caught carrying transit keys while subway surfing, which can be used to open the train's back door, NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Joseph Gulotta said. He Gulotta and outreach worker Norma Nazario said the trend reflects the wider pattern driving a string of deaths on the city's elevated lines."

""We know for a fact that they're stealing them from conductor's booths," Gulotta said, adding that some keys can be purchased on Amazon. "They'll look for an MTA bag lying around. They'll break into the cabin.""

"Then on Tuesday, three teens, two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old, were detained at the Bay Parkway station in Brooklyn after a 911 call reported them riding outside an F train, police said. They were charged as juveniles with criminal trespass. About four hours later, the NYPD Transit Drone team spotted a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old riding atop a Manhattan-bound J train as it crossed the Williamsburg Bridge."

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