Subway surfing is now common knowledge among all Americans. It’s not the smartphone game itself, despite its popularity among teenagers; rather, it’s the ridiculous publicity effort that has many parents worried. Though it may sound exciting, several people, like 17-year-old Kosse Laureano, have lost their lives in the last year after deciding to ride on top of a subway vehicle. Alexander Antelman, Laureano’s 16-year-old buddy, recently paid respect to his death by speaking out against this ridiculous habit online.

Alexander Antelman’s homage includes a video that has gone viral on the internet. Antelman’s goal in making “SAFESPACE: A Memorial to Kosse Loureanou (2004–2022)” was to dissuade other daredevils from trying to replicate the fatal trend that killed his dear friend.

To free attempters from the clutches of subway surfing

The subway train speeds through the tunnel at the beginning of the video posted on Vimeo. And how did they manage to get that shot? This film, recorded by a subway surfer from the top of a subway vehicle, demonstrates just how risky this activity can be. A handful of the photos depict a speeding train, while others display graffiti found inside the metro system. More photos revealed the metro cars on tracks and some vacant tracks within the subway tunnel, both of which are normally off-limits to the public but not to these subway surfers. The footage, however, becomes disturbing when it reveals the text conversations exchanged between Antelman, Kosse Laureano, and his mother on the evening Laureano died as a result of his habit.

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Antelman, the video’s author, included text messages, the first of which came from Laureano’s mother, who was concerned for her son’s safety since he hadn’t returned home. Before anybody realized what had happened, Laureano had already fallen to his death while subway surfing over the 7 train at Hudson Yards, shocking not only his friends but even Antelman. The teen said his companion, who was 17, “didn’t really process it as being something dangerous” and that, to him, it was just “urban exploring and having fun.” The teenager was just trying to get one point across to the world’s subway surfers when he stated, “Think about what your mom’s going to feel like.”

SAFESPACE (excerpt): A project by Alexander Antelman from Maria Antelman on Vimeo.

This year, there have been four fatalities related to people riding on top of or surfing the subway trains. New Yorkers already live in terror because of the five fatalities that have occurred in the subway surfing phenomenon during the previous four years. The MTA has launched an investigation into these fatalities and has called on parents to be more patient with their kids in an effort to prevent them from engaging in risky behavior.

MTA on full alert

928 incidents of people traveling outside of subway cars were reported to the MTA in 2022. Subway surfers and others who ride in less conventional locations on the train are included in this tally. This is cause for worry since it represents a sharp increase from the prior year, when the MTA recorded just 206 such incidents. There have been 455 reported incidents of people traveling without railway cars so far this year.

The MTA and the NYPD are collaborating to stave off any catastrophic results from the lethal trend. To prevent teens from giving in to social pressure and trying subway surfing themselves, authorities have notified platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and others to take down any and all related content.

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