Subway surfer loses limbs after being hit by Harlem train: sources

HARLEM, N.Y (PIX11) — A subway surfer lost her arm and leg after she was hit by a train in a Manhattan subway station Wednesday night, according to police sources and the MTA.

The woman was trying to climb on top of a moving No. 2 train when she fell between two cars and onto the tracks in the West 135th Street-Lenox Avenue subway station in Harlem at around 6:10 pm., according to the MTA and NYPD.

The victim was hit by a southbound No. 2 train and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, police said. The woman, believed to be in her late teens or early 20s, lost her arm and leg, sources said.

The woman was still in critical condition as of Thursday morning, police said.

Police have used drones to save 114 people in the past year, including a 9-year-old, according to Mayor Eric Adams. Yet at least six people have died subway surfing this year, an increase from 2023, according to NYPD data. 

Two teens were recently killed subway surfing in New York City, including a 13-year-old boy, Adolfo Sanabria Sorzano, who was doing a TikTok challenge, according to police and the boy’s mother.

Milene Sorzano told PIX11 News that she found videos of her son subway surfing on his phone and social media despite warning him against riding on trains.

A 12-year-old girl was critically injured last month while subway surfing on top of the No. 7 train in Queens with her friend, Krystel Romero, 13, who died, police said. The 12-year-old was still critical as of Wednesday, police said.

An 11-year-old boy was also killed while subway surfing in Brooklyn in September, sources told PIX11 News.

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She has been with PIX11 News for two years. See more of her work here.