Daredevil Act Known As 'Skylarking' Gives Dangerous Meaning To 'Riding The Rails'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's daredevil behavior caught on camera, but all too often it has proven deadly.
Queens parent Broderick Singletary was shocked by a video showing a kid who appears to be 13 years old, riding on the rear of a subway car.
"Don't get me wrong. I believe in kids being kids, having fun, but there's a line right there, that's not right at all," he told CBS2's Tony Aiello.
The video has made the rounds on Facebook, and looks to have been shot this week at the 103rd Street-Corona Plaza station on the 7 Train line in Queens.
Two boys jumped onto the back of the train, although one quickly changed his mind and climbed off. His friend held on as the train left the station and he apparently exited safely at 111th Street, a third of a mile away.
The train's top speed would have been about 20 mph.
"What about if he falls or something? He's gonna die," Yarisa Tejada said.
In the lingo, riding on the back or side of a train is called 'skylarking.' Riding on top of a car is known as 'subway surfing.'
It's incredibly dangerous.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said between 1989 and 2011, 13 people were killed and another 56 injured while skylarking or subway surfing.
In past years the MTA has posted warnings, and the number of people taking the risk is reportedly lower than in the 1990s.
Although, in 2011, one daredevil's ride outside of a moving subway briefly made him an internet sensation.
He survived, but the bottom line is that the only safe 'subway surfing' is the popular game you can play on your smartphone.
CBS2 reached out to the MTA to ask if anything could be done to prevent this activity. A spokesman said in part that the act is dangerous and moronic. He also indicated that the less publicity skylarking gets, the better.
