NYPD transit cops nabbed 26 ‘repeat offenders’ as they try to stop NYC kids from subway surfing

As the NYPD tries to drive down subway surfing deaths, the department so far this year has stopped 26 ‘repeat offenders’ who were previously caught riding the tops of subway cars — only to do it again —  New York City’s top transit cop said Tuesday.

“Already this year we saw 26 repeat offenders, and the youngest person that we saved was 11 years old,” Chief Joseph Gulotta, head of the NYPD’s Transit Bureau, said.  “Just think about that — 11 years old on top of a subway train.”

“It keeps me up at night,” he said.

The 26 repeat offenders represent 14% of the 185 people cops have grabbed before they hurt themselves or died participating in the daredevil practice this year.

“We’ve saved 185 lives,” Gulotta said, crediting his special team of officers dedicated to combating subway surfing.

Some team members fly drones to catch kids climbing atop moving subway trains. Others are dedicated to shoe-leather policing, getting to know the community of train-addled teenagers risking life and limb.

“We’ve done 212 drone operations [this year],” Gulotta said. “We conducted 98 home visits.”

In addition to eyes in the sky and boots on the ground, Gulotta said the department has begun using LiDAR — a laser-based, radar-like system — to detect subway surfers on certain lines.

“We’ve made eight saves using that so far this year,” Gulotta said.

While subway surfing, track intrusions, and train break-ins remain a persistent problem for the MTA and NYPD, lethal incidents have lulled since a surfing spike in 2024.

According to NYPD data, three kids were reported injured and one killed by subway surfing in 2022.

But as the practice gained popularity — and got glamorized on social media — the casualties climbed. Five people were injured and another five died in 2023. In 2024, nine were injured and seven were killed — the youngest, killed after he fell to the tracks and was struck by a G train, was just 11 years old.

In 2025, amid a slew of efforts to monitor trains, educate teens, and go after social media posts showing off subway surfers, six people were injured and five died while riding on top of subway trains.

“So far this year, we’ve had five injuries and one death,” Gulotta said.

That death was 14-year-old Akhi Butler, who died after falling from a subway that was passing over the Williamsburg Bridge on May 22.

But those who survive a fall from atop a train are rarely the same again, Gulotta said.

“The consequences are real if you survive, and that’s a big if,” the chief said. “Lost limbs, traumatic brain injury — injuries that you do not recover from easily.”

As previously reported by the Daily News, a 14-year-old boy lost his foot last week after tumbling from a train coming over the Williamsburg Bridge.

Gulotta was joined Tuesday by Norma Nazario, who was hired by the NYPD as a community coordinator after her 13-year-old son, Zackery Nazario, was killed subway surfing on Feb. 20, 2023.

“My son was very bright,” she recalled. “Teachers used to call him a historian, because of how much he loved history. I miss him so much.”

“He used to go on the roof to see the sunrise,” she added.

“Know what your child is consuming online,” Nazario said. “Because I wish I did. And if you do, you could save your kids’ lives.”

Gulotta said the NYPD has caught 107 repeat offenders subway surfing since 2023. Cops are beginning to look at surfing as an extension of a broader trend in transit crime — including track trespassing, theft of MTA equipment, and subway joyrides.

“Do not do it,” the chief said, when asked his message for New York’s teenagers. “If you do not die, the injuries are going to be catastrophic. They’re going to change your life. They’re going to change the life of your parents. They’re going to change the life of your brothers and sisters, the people you go to school with.”

“These injuries are gruesome and completely life-altering,” he said. “Don’t do it. That’s my message.”