NYC Teens Drawn To Dangerous 'Urbexing' Share A Trait, Study Finds

NEW YORK CITY— Most people sent to the hospital after riding the tops of subway cars in New York City are teenage boys diagnosed with ADHD, a study reported this week.

NYU-Langone researchers found 10 patients taken to Bellevue Hospital after subway surfing, and found all of them were male teenagers with “markedly higher rates of ADHD” compared to the total 43 cases of general subway-related traumas from 2018 to 2025.

They found 60 percent of surfers had an ADHD diagnosis, compared to 6.1% of non-surfing incidents.

The study remains too small to herald a singular conclusion, researchers noted, and does not include two young girls who died while surfing in Oct. 2025: 12-year-old Zemfira Mukhtarov and 13-year-old Ebba Morina.

Eveline Teresa Hidalgo, senior author of the study and pediatric neurosurgeon at NYU and Bellevue, told Gothamist the study does not mean ADHD causes teenagers to subway surf, and further investigation is required.

"It could be associated with some attention-seeking behavior," Hidalgo told Gothamist. "It could be associated with the thrill-seeking behavior, and it's a typical teenage behavior.”

On social media, a counterculture group of New York City teenagers post their urban exploration, frequently tagged 'urbexing,' which features abandoned sites, and oftentimes, off-limits subway tunnels.

The growing online fascination with liminal spaces, empty environments that evoke nostalgia and mystery, has drawn young people toward places that feel removed from the routines of everyday life.

A24's Backrooms film tapped the interest into the mainstream, exploring the unsettling idea of endless, unfamiliar spaces hidden just beyond the ordinary.

For some teenagers, urbexing offers the thrill of discovering these places firsthand, satisfying a curiosity about what lies beyond the boundaries of familiar, accessible spaces.

In an effort to curb subway surfing, the MTA has joined city officials to pressure social media platforms, including Meta and TikTok, to remove or restrict videos depicting the trend.

The agency has also tested barriers between train cars along the elevated 7 line to deter riders from accessing train roofs.

The 7 train was identified as the leading hotspot for subway surfing in 2025, accounting for approximately 44 percent of subway-surfing removals reported by the NYPD.

The J, M, and Z lines also experienced frequent complaints, while Queens accounted for more than half of all subway-surfing apprehensions.

Last month, a 14-year-old boy fell from the roof of a moving subway train as it approached the Hewes Street station on the J/M line in Brooklyn.

185 people have been arrested for subway surfing so far this year, a 12 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD data.

The NYPD has also turned to drone surveillance to monitor elevated tracks and identify individuals engaging in subway surfing.

The study points to Berlin’s experience in the 1990s as a potential model for New York City in addressing subway surfing.

After 18 people died while train surfing over a six-year period, Berlin’s S-Bahn transit system gradually phased out a fleet of train cars identified as easier to climb.