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Police bust 2 teens in Queens subway joyride, MTA chief says 'hooligan games' must stop
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 3, 2025
Modified Feb 4, 2025
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Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 3, 2025
Modified Feb 4, 2025
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The NYPD arrested two teen boys on Monday for allegedly breaking into an unoccupied R train in Queens last week and driving it down the tracks, according to police.
The joyriders, ages 17 and 15, were hit with charges including reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing. The NYPD alleges they broke into the train along with four other youngsters near the Forest Hills-71st Avenue station on a layup track, which is an area where subway trains are stored when they’re not in service.
The group allegedly damaged glass panels, defaced the train’s security cameras and took it for a ride. MTA officials did not say for how long they drove the train. The NYPD has not yet identified the other four people they say were involved in the incident.
“Those hooligan games cannot happen, and that’s why we’ve stepped up security at key transit locations are actively exploring new technologies to prevent access and control of the operator’s cab,” NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement.
A group of teens alleged with taking an R train for a joyride.
NYPD
The joyride marked the third time in just over a year where groups took subway trains for joyrides. In September, two other teens stole an F train in Queens, got a hold of the controls and crashed it into another train, the NYPD said. And last January, authorities said another group hijacked a train near the same station as last week’s incident.
Crichlow said the MTA is stepping up its security to prevent more break-ins, such as adding loud alarms and modern emergency brakes to subway cars. MTA Chair Janno Lieber last week also said the MTA was looking into installing biometric verification technology that would require workers to scan their fingerprints in order to operate train cars.
“We got to have modern ways of controlling anyone operating it,” Lieber said. “I am now making sure that as we buy new subway cars, we have technology that’s not just a key and a lock and hopefully a yard with some barbed wire around it.”
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new york city
queens
public safety
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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