The family of a Bronx boy killed while subway surfing on a Queens train said the teen was likely influenced by his friends.
Carlos Oliver, 15, died early Friday morning after falling to the tracks at the Queensboro Plaza station in Long Island City, cops said. Investigators said it was unclear if he fell while trying to climb atop the No. 7 train around 2:45 a.m. or if he lost his balance as the train pulled into the station.
His sister, Emely Oliver, 23, said she doubts he was acting alone.
“He was shy and quiet but at the end of the day he started hanging out with the wrong crowd. We miss him and we love him,” Oliver said.
“We went to every resource to help him. We called the police when he didn’t come home at night. He’d be with these friends who led him to the wrong path.”
EMS rushed Carlos to Bellevue Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
The sister said that she noticed things started to take a turn for the teen around February while the mother pushed for the school’s guidance counselor to help him keep up with his classes in school.
”We were blindsided. We never planned for a funeral for a child,” she said said. “They’re kids, They think they are having fun, they think it doesn’t affect other people but then it does.”
The boy’s mother, Ingrid Oliver, was too devastated about the incident to speak.
“I can’t, I just can’t. Im not ready, I can’t handle this,” the mother said as she fought back tears.
Last month, a 14-year-old subway surfer in the Bronx was critically injured when he fell from the top of a train.
The boy was riding on top of a northbound No. 5 train with two other teens when he fell and landed on the track bed near the Baychester Ave. stop about 3:15 p.m. on June 16.
The teen was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition from injuries to his face and body. His condition improved overnight to critical but stable, police said.
In March, a 13-year-old boy was lucky to escape serious injuries after he fell from the top of a Brooklyn R train heading into the Bay Ridge Ave. station around 4:30 p.m. on March 17. The boy suffered a minor head injury and was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, cops said.
He was later charged with reckless endangerment.
In that same month, another 13-year-old boy was in critical condition after falling from the top of a subway train in Queens on March 14.
The boy was found lying in the northbound track bed at the 111th Street stop on the No. 7 train. in Corona. Cops were called to the station after the teen fell at 8:17 a.m. and told by witnesses he had been riding on top of the train when he fell. He was later rushed in Elmhurst hospital
Over the past few months, cops and the MTA have taken a multi-prong approach to discourage subway-surfing thrill seekers. In June, the MTA ramped up their “Ride Inside and Stay Alive” campaign featuring Queens-born BMX Athlete Nigel Sylvester.
The campaign push involved a series of recorded subway announcements — by Sylvester, as well as by New York City schoolchildren — about the dangers of riding on the outside of a subway train, plus a series of digital posters displayed on subway and platform screens.
“Subway surfing is going to get you injured or killed,” Sylvester says in a subway announcement recorded for the campaign. “It’s pretty simple: Don’t do it.”
The NYPD also began flying drones along above-ground subway lines to keep an eye out for subway surfers.
