On Rooftops and Trains, Daredevil Stunts in New York Can Turn Deadly

I was brought up skiing, when I was a teen I use to go off trails at night with my brother and friends; usually drunk, high..tripping..you name it..we were messed up & going on the side of mountains where no trails were made. Some times we'd accidentally ski off 10 foot cliffs only to be saved by a frozen pond below. Many broken bones occurred. We'd ski fast through wooded areas without helmets while wasted. We also would go out during storms and swim as far as we could in the ocean at night, then dive down and come back up to have no idea which way land was. Some how we survived all this. If buildings with 8 foot gaps were available, we'd probably try jumping, more likely while on some sort of drug as well.

I don't think more after school programs will help, those doing this are turned off by after school programs. Even the article mentioned that those on the roof tops were looking for more risk. An interesting point that the article does mention is that this was a "guy" activity. I remember being in high school and having everything mixed..skiing was a good way to get away from the girls. Not the best, but a good way to get away from most. Even post-PhD work, I feel like there is no area besides my house where I can openly prevent women from intruding. It's great we welcome them everywhere, but perhaps this article points to a need that is not being meant. The need for all male clubs, for all ages honestly. Would an all boy's club prevented this death? Probably not.

I'm actually surprised he didn't make it. At my age and condition I wouldn't stand on the parapet (sad...but that's reality), but an 18 year old with a running start can leap 6 feet without difficulty and 8 with a bit of strategy and practice.

There's a video of someone doing a skateboard leap clear across a non-revenue (but powered on) subway track. That's not safe, but he had clearly practiced such leaps 100s of times and cleared it handily. Because of the layout of the station it was done at (there are only a couple places in the system to even try this) he was jumping toward the live 3rd rail; a tumbling fall onto it, perhaps getting wedged between the 3rd and running rail would not be pretty.
There's another video of 2 teens doing a straight running leap between platforms. that's 10 feet on the letter lines. This one was toward the non-powered side. Both made it, by inches.
Fortunately other teens have not taken the bait to duplicate either stunt.

Odd, there was a story the other day about a free-climber named Honnold who scales cliffs without safety gear, and most of the comments were very admiring. I guess it's all in whether the daredevil lives or not; if he lives it's inspiring, if he dies it's tragic. I say "he" because it's usually males that do this, demonstrating once again that women have more common sense.

This type of behavior isn't limited to NYC, or cities, or modern times. Taking daring risks is a young, generally male, thing to do, and the odds insist that the result is sometimes death. But it's also a human thing to do overall; remember when we were in the space race as a nation? A lot of people died trying to get a man into orbit, and to the moon, taking rather extreme risks. We took our astronauts mostly from test pilot ranks, and the death rate of those guys is staggering.

Lest I appear condescending, I'd like to point out I took these risks too, from age 2 to 25 or so, less often thereafter. Got dragged behind a 5th Ave. bus once, hit by various cars, nearly fell off a roof, all sorts of thankfully less-than-fatal outcomes.

So this is sad for the individuals who take these risks and fail. But I don't think we can really do much about it as society, because it seems innate in humanity, and it has actually panned out well for our species.

Whether it's peer pressure, a personal challenge, or defying authority and it's rules for safety, how long are we going to call these horrible events tragedies? Some one who by passes the laws of physics, nature, reason, and with reckless abandon bets against himself, is proof enough that mentally he has is not fit to survive. The fear and possibility of killing yourself is proof of your need/desire to live. The gene pool remains in balance we hope!

My friends and I were college-bound suburban teens who did (in retrospect) a good many dangerous things for the adrenaline rush. We weren't stupid, but we were ignorant about the dangers involved in, for instance, jumping off 30-40 foot cliffs into quarry water. Not once did we get into the water to look for obstacles beneath before we jumped. I had nightmares about fatiguing before I could swim up to the surface for years afterward. It is not fair to characterize teens as stupid because they do reckless things...they are just kids. Kids who will hopefully live to tell their own children about channeling their youthful enthusiasm with caution.

My father and a bunch of his pals used to put on their roller skates and hold onto the rear bumpers of trucks. After a few adventures he was caught. The next adventure for him was military school for 4 years. This happened in 1929 in Washington Heights.

I'm not sure what message you trying to send when in the very same issue mourning Tareek's tragic fall, you celebrate a guy who climbs up half-mile high cliffs without safety equipment.

I remember (as a Teen) being on a camping trip near a Very Very High Bridge between Rocky Islets near the Coast. There we were on a Sat Night sitting on the Bridge abutments underneath at the edge of the (Very High ) cliff. Drinking ,of Course. And there were a couple very Drunk Teens crossing underneath on the Struts. As the one (Very Stupid) Kid got to the center of the Span he leaned out while hanging on with 1 hand - while waving to the Tiny boats passing below in the Swirling Rocky Passage.
Not once did I ,or my Friends suggest "Hey Let's go out there". Guess I grew up with a very different Crowd (Mostly Musicians & artists). Its been a great Life & didn't need to prove it to anyone. If only everyone felt a little bit secure in themselves.
Peer Pressure. Such a terrible thing. For Kids or Grownups. How Sad

I've been in emergency medicine for 45 years.
The two words most commonly said before someone dies is "Watch this!"
or
"Hold my beer. Watch this!"

Sorry guys but we will never find a cure for stupid. We have built up an entire industry surrounding stupidity: search and rescue (or recovery) teams, paramedics, Lifeflight fixed wings and helicopters, state of the art trauma emergency departments, Emergency room doctors and trauma doctors are now board certified after extensive residencies.

And boy is it a money-making business! ERs make the money in hospitals. Every hospital strives to get the ranking of a Level One trauma center--with surgeons, anesthesiologists AT the hospital 24 hours a day. State of the Art intensive care units with nurses trained in advanced trauma life support.

Between continuous wars with IEDs, youtube inviting even more idiocy--emergency medicine brings in the money. And there's no cure....and MOST of it is brought on by testosterone.

This just in. Younge men do dangerous things.

When I was 13 years old in 1947 and living on 74th Street in Manhattan, a supreme adventure would be for my friends to get from Columbus Avenue to Central Park by avoiding the sidewalk and scaling the brick-and-mortar stoops and landings of brownstones. Urban rock climbers. It was thrilling and great fun until the day I stood on a lower ledge, just above the sidewalk and jumped upwards, my aim being to get a hold on the balustrade atop the landing so as to climb over it. As I held on that day I almost went into shock as the entire mass began collapsing back towards me. It appeared to be falling in slow motion. Fortunately there was space to jump backwards and avoid the hundreds of pounds of solid material that surely would have crushed me. I fully realized I had dodged a dangerous situation but I was filled with guilt at the damage I caused and didn't tell anybody what had happened.

Boys have always done these dangerous stunts. I grew up near the overhead-wire electrified LIRR freight line than ran through Midwood. In the 1960s kids would 'hitch' a ride on the freight cars and jump off up near the 'gray bridge' near Ocean Avenue. Once a kid from my Catholic grade school was electrocuted riding on the roof of a freight train. Even that didn't stop kids from hitching.

A very sad story. Parkour does look really cool and a lot of fun if you view videos of experts. But if you or a young friend are tempted to run right out and give it a try, just go to youtube and enter "parkour fails." You will get a long list of videos that will hopefully dampen your/their enthusiasm.

I am sure some of these adolescent daredevils are influenced by the parkour videos on YouTube. They look like effortless, beautifully-choreographed dances. The first time I saw one, I thought, "How stupid. But how many hours a day does he practice to do that?". Unfortunately, the adolescent brain might not see the stupidity and the training, and only see the coolness of it. So sad.

This is so sad. I grew up in Hell's Kitchen in NYC. We (girls!) used to hang out on the rooftops, too. I remember our climbing from one roof to another all the way down the block. And I remember being dared to jump from one roof to another across a space. I was always too afraid to do it. During the summer between the 6th and 7th grade, we heard about a male classmate who had been killed jumping from one roof to another. That stopped us for a while.

I feel so bad for this young boy and his family. May he rest in peace.

This is an article about risk, reputation (among one's peers) and more. But for those of us with secondary teaching in our records, the presence of violent vid games is also in the experience of most kids, whose brains have not yet fully developed, or, like some of us, have absent parents and teachers who have not influenced them "in the right way".
This article is important journalism; thanks.

It's very sad. More than the environment, this incident speaks of youth. I was tempted to write something snarky about a Darwin Award, but the reality is that my friends and I did similar things as we grew up. One of us could have died because of our actions. We were no different from Tyreek in that regard.

It's horrible to say, but sometimes it's just luck in raising children. If you over-protect them they suffer the inability to cope. And it's well nigh impossible to monitor them continually. Parents can only do the best they can in education and caution.

And consider this: while Tyreek experienced his sad misfortune, years ago people entrusted their children to the Catholic Church; some outcomes were less than desirable. It's difficult to protect children from all hazards. For one who is either religious or atheist, raising children can evoke desperate prayer.

Can someone explain to me the difference between what these kids are doing and free soloing Half Dome as Alex Honnold did? Or playing football knowing the damage one is doing to his/her brain? Or our top athletes doing steriods?
Why do we idolize the later yet bemoan the former?

I grew up in Bensonhurst and Coney Island doing all sorts of, as an adult, I consider really stupid things not very different than the stuff in this article. From my perspective, this are normal kids living in an abnormal situation; what these kids need are outlets for their energy - both physical and mental energy.
Perhaps if these kids had opportunities play sports, to learn rock climbing, sail boarding, and and engage in demanding outdoor activities it would be better for all of us.

The upside is that we have less stupid people walking around. Falling off Everest is no less stupid than a youngster missing the leap. At least the kid didn't pay $20,000 to take the flight. Don't put any blame on the kids for this stuff; man can't cure stupid, so he stupidly chances beating it. Every day!

It seems to me that a child's adult consciousness really begins at about age 9. He is better able to understand and respect adults in his environment. It the child listens to you at all it is a good sign that he values your opinion. This is the time for us, as adults, to teach the child that life has risks but he should choose himself not to be foolhardy if he wants to grow up to be like you. Save the risks for things that matter. Although it may not seem like it kids do love and appreciate us in their own way. We have to have courage to seize the opportunity and show them we truly care.

Why on earth was the door to the roof unlocked? Fifteen year olds do stupid things, believing they'll live forever. The least we can do is not facilitate the dire consequences of their stupidity.

Boys, just a short message, a plea really. As one male to another, I implore you to not take these risks. It simply is not worth it. Read this article and realize the emotional devastation that you leave behind if something untoward happens to you. And boys, do not be fooled into thinking that you are immune from these mishaps. You are not. None of us are.

Tyreek's family and friends have my deepest and sincerest condolences.

What these kids need are rec centers to channel their energy. While growing up in NYC I never jumped from roof to roof, we did hang out there a lot. We used to light fires with aerosol cans, and throw 45's down to the street like flying saucers. And of course smoke cigarettes and sniff glue on occasion.
Kids with time on their hands will invent all sorts of mischief.

We all do stupid things. Some of us survive. For the time being.

Sometimes the cruel but simple reminder may be the best advice: of one thing we can be sure, you may never do it again!

10 to one they were filming the attempt.

It's an awful consequence of a youth culture obsessed with not only one-upmanship, but documenting everything on video and broadcasting it.
If you don't have a FB or a youtube account with thousands of likes, you don't exist.

Very tragic. Why not put fences on roof tops to prevent this from recurring.

When I saw the headline, I thought for sure that I was going to read about another Alex Honnold, but instead I see this. Sadly, these types of stories just fuel our ire for young men taking unnecessary risks. The beauty of Honnold's climbs contrast sharply with the decaying landscape of NYC, but there's a bigger story here that may be lost on many of the readers. And that is, at least to me, these young men are seeking challenge that is beyond their reach, because the real challenges in their lives (should be school) no longer appeal to them. I know as a child, I all too often saw the destructive penchant in those drifting away from the demands of education. So instead they sought advancement in doing what all too many see as foolishness. Articles like this are really going to do little to change this.

I work for a mass transit company, it isn't only teenagers that take risks. It's everyday commuters that wake up late and walk/run right in front of moving trains. We can not stop a loaded train on a dime. Graffiti artists too, take enormous risks for the sake of their art? I've had co workers that couldn't deal with the guilt, (even though it wasn't their fault) of taking someone's life.

Another factor is peer pressure. Often a boy is dared or challenged by other boys to try something risky.

Such a tragedy. I send prayers to Tyrek's family. And, thanks for the photos. They provided clear illustration of the landscape in which the death defying stunt took place. Perhaps, parents can use the article and photos to talk with their kids about risk taking behavior and the sometimes deadly consequences.

These so-called "Daredevils" are profoundly confused youth. The whole phenomenon of these sorts of "near death" stunts are indicative of a culture veering closer and closer to absolute collapse.

While it is easy to respond to these near suicidal dark "games" with the cliched lines about "boys will be boys" and "letting off steam" etc.---A person with maturity, life experience and wisdom will speak and write honestly about how horrific and tragic it is to see these disillusioned and poor raised young people doing such foolish things.

Risking one's life and health in a Thanatos based "Life Noir" "Game" of seeing how nearly one can come to sustaining a grievous injury and/or death is not cool, edgy or manly---rather these are VERY FOOLISH ACTIONS performed by children and adolescents from broken homes and from a broken culture.

Modernity is reaping as it has planted. We are reaping in a "Harvest of Corruption" just as the Bible said.

Just one trip to a Neurology Intensive Care Unit at a major hospital to view severe head injuries, Traumatic Brain Injury and Diffuse Axonal Injuries resulting from head trauma will quickly sober up even the most adrenaline and testosterone filled young person with a dark and poignant dose of reality.

There is nothing pretty about one's head slamming against a wall while hanging alongside a subway train.

There is nothing pretty, cute, edgy or manly about falling several floors onto concrete with one's head striking the concrete ground.

RIP, Tyreek - and Godspeed!

Kids, please be careful out there, and don't take risky chances where one mistake could mean your life.

Moore than 30 years ago I was on the "R" local northbound leaving the 49th ST. station , it was about 9 p.m., a few seconds after we departed the station the train's emergency brakes were activated and we screeched to a halt. I was riding on the first car looking out the front window, the train operator quickly radioed Command Center about the sudden emergency stop. He then left his compartment, opened the front door, climbed down, and proceeded to walk down the side of the train along the tracks, it must have been at least 5, maybe 10 minutes that went by and he suddenly reappeared , looked like he was in shock, with his face white as a ghost. He radioed in what he discovered and requested emergency aid. I was the only passenger in the first car, it took almost an hour for the train to resume its trip, but can't imagine the horror that man had to deal with seeing a teenage boy decapitated, his body lying beneath the car, for boy and a pal of his decided to cross the tracks from the other side in order not to miss our train, climbing up and in between cars, one of them losing his balance as the train lurched forward, sending him tumbling down onto the tracks below and losing his life in an instant and most gruesome way. When will these kids learn,that it's not worth it, to be in a rush, or to prove their "manliness"? Life is too short as it is. Kids, you can have fun in other ways and live to tell your kids about it.