Generation Danger: The Deadly Rise of Subway Surfing and the Digital Culture Behind It

Two young girls — just 12 and 13 years old — were found dead on top of a New York City subway train in early October 2025. Their deaths weren’t an isolated tragedy; they were part of a devastating pattern that has quietly consumed the city’s youth for years.

Investigators say the girls, Zemfira Mukhtarov and Ebba Morina, were likely “subway surfing” — a deadly social media trend that involves riding on top of, or between, moving subway cars. The two were discovered at the Marcy Avenue–Broadway station in Brooklyn around 3 a.m., after reportedly joining a group of other teens attempting the same stunt. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the NYPD, this marks at least the fifth confirmed subway surfing death of 2025 — and tragically, it mirrors a growing list of young lives lost to the same reckless thrill.

The Victims and the Pattern of Tragedy

Subway surfing has existed for decades, but social media has transformed it from an underground dare into a public spectacle. The recent deaths of Zemfira and Ebba are just the latest in a long line of youth fatalities connected to this trend.

Below is a record of other confirmed or reported teen deaths in recent years:

• 2023: Zackery Nazario, 15Zackery and his girlfriend climbed atop a Brooklyn-bound J train. A low-clearance beam struck Zackery, causing him to fall between the cars and be run over. His mother, Norma Nazario, later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Meta and TikTok, arguing that their algorithms encouraged the spread of subway surfing content. A judge ruled in 2025 that her case could proceed, setting a major precedent in social media accountability.

• 2024: Krystel Romero, 13Krystel died after falling between cars while subway surfing on the No. 7 line in Queens. Another teen in the same incident was critically injured.

• 2024: Cayden Rivera, 11Cayden attempted to surf the roof of a G train in Queens. He lost his balance and was killed instantly.

• 2022: Ka’Von Wooden, 15Ka’Von fell from the roof of a moving J train on the Williamsburg Bridge. His death helped spur the MTA’s “Ride Inside, Stay Alive” campaign.

• 2019–2021 (multiple cases)Several unnamed minors and young adults were killed in similar incidents, including one boy decapitated while climbing between cars on the L train and another electrocuted during a filming attempt.

While these are just a few of the documented cases, MTA records confirm that subway surfing deaths have doubled since 2022. Each tragedy follows the same pattern: a viral influence, a thrill-seeking attempt, and a city left asking the same heartbreaking question — why?

The Numbers Behind the Nightmare

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has tracked a disturbing rise in subway surfing incidents over the past five years.

• In 2021, there were 206 reported cases.

• By 2023, that number had jumped to 449.

• In 2024, incidents surpassed 500, with six confirmed deaths.

• As of October 2025, there have been at least five deaths — including Zemfira and Ebba — and hundreds of arrests.

The NYPD reports that many arrested are between 11 and 16 years old, with boys historically making up most of the cases, though the recent deaths of two girls show that this phenomenon is expanding across gender lines.

Officers have even detained children as young as nine for attempting to surf trains.

The Digital Pipeline: Games, Apps, and Algorithms

To understand why so many young people risk their lives, experts point to the digital environment shaping this generation’s perception of danger.

The Gamified Foundation

It begins innocently enough.

Games like Subway Surfers, Temple Run, Talking Tom Hero Dash, and Jetpack Joyride have collectively been downloaded billions of times worldwide. Their mechanics — running along trains, dodging obstacles, escaping danger — make danger feel exciting, colorful, and winnable.

• Subway Surfers has amassed over 4 billion total downloads and still records more than 140 million monthly active users in 2025.

• Temple Run 2 surpassed 1 billion downloads and remains a top arcade app with millions of monthly players.

• These games continue to be updated and promoted, keeping them visible and accessible to new users every day.

Psychologists note that for children between the ages of 8 and 13, repetition of risky imagery conditions the brain to normalize it. When a child later sees a TikTok video of someone subway surfing in real life, it doesn’t register as inherently deadly — it looks like an extension of the game.

Social Media’s Algorithm of Adrenaline

Social media is the accelerant.

A 2025 report from Common Sense Media found that 67 percent of teens have participated in at least one viral challenge. Over 20 percent admitted doing something physically dangerous for views or followers.

A Harvard Digital Behavior study revealed that videos featuring high-risk behavior receive 3.4 times more engagement than neutral ones among users aged 13 to 19.

Creators know that shock sells. Some adults, including popular TikTokers and YouTubers, have gained massive followings by performing illegal stunts like train surfing or climbing skyscrapers — often under hashtags like “#SubwayChallenge” or “#TrainLife.”

Even after takedowns, the videos reappear under new names, spreading faster than platforms can remove them.

This feedback loop — games that gamify danger, creators who glorify it, and algorithms that amplify it — forms what psychologists call the culture of algorithmic adrenaline.

The Aftermath: Families, Lawsuits, and Accountability

The families left behind have become reluctant advocates for reform.

In 2023, Norma Nazario’s lawsuit against Meta and TikTok became the first major U.S. case holding social media companies liable for promoting deadly challenges. The ruling allowing her case to move forward in 2025 has opened the door for others to follow.

City leaders have also begun pressing platforms to better monitor and restrict dangerous content. But enforcement remains inconsistent. Despite public promises, thousands of subway surfing videos still slip through algorithmic cracks daily.

Community activists argue that accountability should extend beyond social media — to game developers and public transit agencies that fail to anticipate how their imagery and designs might influence behavior.

The MTA’s Response — And What’s Still Missing

In response to rising deaths, the MTA has implemented a range of safety measures:

• “Ride Inside, Stay Alive” Campaign: A citywide awareness effort featuring PSAs, digital signage, and school outreach programs reminding youth of the dangers of subway surfing.

• Increased Surveillance: More cameras and drones now monitor rooftops and tunnel entrances where surfers are known to climb.

• Rapid Response Teams: NYPD transit officers are being trained to recognize patterns of group activity that may indicate potential surfing.

Yet critics say it isn’t enough.

Transportation experts and safety engineers argue that the MTA’s infrastructure itself could be more secure — for example, installing sensors on train roofs, improving platform gate systems, and locking end-door connectors to prevent access between cars.

There is also the question of education. Many schools near subway lines still lack formalized digital safety programs that explain how online challenges spread.

Without community partnerships, experts warn, campaigns alone can’t compete with the power of algorithms.

The Cultural Equation

What we’re witnessing isn’t just a transit issue. It’s a reflection of a generation raised in an economy of attention, where danger equals engagement and engagement equals value.

Games reward survival.Social media rewards risk.Corporations profit from both.

Kids don’t see death in that equation — only fame, views, and the illusion of control.

As child psychologist Dr. Candice Martin of NYU explains:“Kids today grow up believing danger is temporary because games let them respawn. They believe attention equals worth because algorithms reward their risk. Together, that rewires how they interpret fear itself.”

Where We Go From Here

Real change will require what experts call “multi-layered accountability.” That means:

1. Parents and Schools: Expanding digital literacy programs that explicitly address the dangers of online challenges.

2. Tech Companies: Implementing proactive detection algorithms for dangerous trends and imposing stricter penalties on creators who promote them.

3. The MTA and City Leaders: Investing in physical safety infrastructure to prevent rooftop access and enforcing harsher penalties for those caught subway surfing.

4. Game Developers: Rethinking the messages embedded in endless-runner and chase-style games that glorify urban danger.

5. Lawmakers: Updating digital safety laws to reflect the realities of algorithm-driven harm.

Until these systems align, tragedies like those of Zemfira, Ebba, Zackery, and Krystel will remain part of the digital cost of doing nothing.

The deaths of Zemfira Mukhtarov and Ebba Morina are not isolated acts of teenage recklessness. They are symptoms of a cultural and technological disease — one that gamifies danger, monetizes attention, and leaves children paying the price.

This generation doesn’t just consume content. They live inside it.And until adults — from developers to executives to policymakers — start taking responsibility for the worlds they’ve built, the tracks will keep claiming lives.

Sources

Associated Press, New York Post, ABC7 New York, Reuters, NBC New York, The Brooklyn Eagle, Chalkbeat NYC, The Guardian, Gothamist, Business of Apps, Harvard Digital Behavior Study (2024), Common Sense Media Teen Tech Use Report (2025), American Academy of Pediatrics (2024), NYU Youth Media Lab, MTA Annual Safety Report (2025).