14-year-old Harlem boy trying to impress his friends by climbing on top of a moving subway train was killed yesterday afternoon when he hit a steel girder, fell on the tracks and was struck by another train between the West Fourth Street and 14th Street stations.

The boy, Eric Alvarez, performed his deadly stunt in clear view of his friends on the train, who watched him climb to the roof of the car. At least one friend tried desperately to save him by clinging to his foot as he fell toward the tracks.



"I got ahold of his sneaker but it was so dirty," said Indee Sparrow, 15, who made a futile attempt to hold on to Eric. "It was all slippery and I couldn't hold on, and he lost his balance and fell down."

"He was trying to act cool and prove a point," she said. "Oh my God, why couldn't I save him?"

"He was just saying, `Help me, help me,' and I tried to help but I couldn't get a grip on him," she said. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get a hold."

The death yesterday was the latest example of a reckless form of thrill-seeking called subway surfing that resulted in several deaths and injuries in the 1980's and 90's. Most commonly, subway surfers have been young men riding atop subway cars on elevated tracks outdoors.

According to the police and several witnesses, Eric, who friends say was a freshman at Chelsea Vocational High School, decided to impress a group of friends on a northbound C train at 4:45 p.m. as it was leaving West Fourth Street.

"He decides to subway surf, he's climbing up and gets whacked by a girder beam and then he goes down and falls between cars," said one police official.

Outside the 14th Street station, tears streaming down his face a classmate said he was part of a group of about a dozen students who had entered the subway with Eric.

"He told us he was going and we heard this thud," said the young man, who declined to be identified.

"We thought he had just climbed on top and that was the noise," he said. "We didn't know at first he had fallen. We didn't know he died."

Marisa Balde, a spokeswoman for New York City Transit, said Eric's companions did not notify subway employees that he had fallen on the tracks until the train had stopped at 14th Street.

By that time, she said, Eric had been struck by a northbound E train that was behind the C train.

The students "were just too late" in contacting subway employees, Ms. Balde said. Although it was unclear at what point Eric sustained his fatal injuries, she said transit employees could have radioed in immediately as soon as they learned someone was on the tracks, and the E train could have been stopped before it left West Fourth Street.

The accident caused major disruptions for commuters using the subway during the height of late afternoon congestion yesterday. Passengers on the E train that struck Eric, which stopped in the tunnel before reaching the next station, were evacuated through an emergency exit.

Before service was restored about 7 p.m., all northbound trains on the Eighth Avenue line were diverted to the line used by F and V trains.

As word of the accident spread, dozens of students from Chelsea Vocational High School converged on the 14th Street station, where people were being evacuated.

They were ordered away by the police, who herded the group of students a block east to the Seventh Avenue subway station in hopes that they would disperse. Along the way, the students bought candles in a deli and lit them as they walked, carrying them back down into the subway, where they were joined by a trumpet performer who provided a rendition of "Amazing Grace" in honor of their friend.

Carlos Diaz, a senior at Chelsea Vocational High School who was in the group with Eric, said reckless behavior like subway surfing was unusual for him. "It's the first time he tried to do something like that," he said. "He wasn't into stuff like that. He liked basketball and football. He did all his school work. He was a good friend to everybody."

Eric lived with his mother and paternal grandmother in a fourth-floor apartment at 59 Morningside Avenue. Other family members and neighbors said last night that Eric's father was incarcerated, but it was unclear for how long or for what offense.

The boy's uncle, Tyrone Alvarez, who lives in the same building, said he was shocked that Eric would do anything so foolhardy as subway surfing.

"It was probably peer pressure," Mr. Alvarez said. "This is not something Eric would do on his own, but kids will be kids."

Although Eric gained access to the roof by going through a subway car door, many cars in the fleet have doors that stay locked.

Ms. Balde said subway cars that are 75 feet long — the longest in the fleet — have locked doors because of the tight angles they negotiate going around corners. Shorter cars — those that measure 51 feet or 60 feet — have doors that are left unlocked, enabling more efficient evacuation in case of emergency, she said.

Cars used in the C and E lines are 60 feet long, she said

Finess said:

GOOD! i have no sorrow for dumbasses dying dumbass deaths :X

AaronUniversal said:

:LOL:

It's sad for many reasons. But I thought the same thing.
:PRAY:

Hundalasiliah!

Eye know there is a devil because he talks so loud
He makes U do things your friends do, hang out with the crowd



Cuzzin' when Spooky say dead, U better say died
Or U can fly high right by Spooky and all that he crawls 4
Spooky and all that he crawls for
Don't kiss the beast

don't know what else to say and

It's weird...when's the last time someone died on the tracks in Chicago? I know tons more people take the MTA subways, but still...what's wrong with New Yorkers and the subway? When I lived in NYC, I was always afraid of someone pushing me on the tracks. Such a fear doesn't even register now that I'm living in Chicago, but it's just as possible.

Anxiety said:

its crazy around here man...

Anxiety said:

a woman died on the tracks this summer in Chicago










.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 22 19:11:44 PDT 2003 by AaronUniversal]

it's just horrible

AaronUniversal said:

Yeah, but when was the last time before that? It happens pretty regularly in NYC.

Another one for the Darwin Award.

I am so tired of hearing about the stupdiity of kids.. Kids dont think that they can get hurt.. they have the superman complex... These kids were old enough to know.. you gonna get hurt... Maybe they needed a good smack growing up... Or at least an ass whoopin... I feel mean saying this but you PLAY YOU PAY!

When I was 14 I played Mario brothers!

AaronUniversal said:

I remember that, but hers was a real accident. That kid that died yesterday died because of his own stupidity. Now his mom has to worry about buryin his ass.

damn shame edit
[This message was edited Wed Oct 22 19:11:44 PDT 2003 by Kiss85]

At 14, I did some dumb things, but never anything that could kill me or someone else. I would hope that my friends would have stopped me if I tried.

That's what happens when you're in a new crowd in a new school yet trying to fit in with the "cool kids'. That will teach kids and teens alike to be themselves and not do something Ur not
feeling good about doing, especailly if it's something reckless
or dangerous.

How sad yet ridiculous.

It's a classic case of Darwinism. At least he won't be able to spread his dummy gene.

EvilWhiteMale said:

would u be so heartless if

your brother or son died

doing a stunt?

this young man was someone's son

he was someone's nephew

and possibly someone's future father

mercy and prayers are more needed

than cold hearted and insensitive comments

sumtymes said:

he was also a dumb ass, and he died the way dumb asses deserve to die.

as for if it was my brother or son, they'd have more sense.

Sheer stupidity

AaronUniversal said:

you have no way of knowing that Aaron...I agree this was a stupid thing to do, but come on...kids just DON'T THINK sometimes...doesn't mean they "deserve" to die

now, if this was an adult who did this, I wouldn't feel it was nearly as sad...

endorphin74 said:

that's the problem with kids today. they aren't taught to think.

AaronUniversal said:

u sound real full of yourself

this young man deserves more

than disrespectful comments

God Bless him and his family

sumtymes said:

I feel bad for the famliy they seemed awfully confused by the stunt. Yes it was stupid what he did, but just because someone does something stupid doesn't mean they deserve to die. I bet his parents wish they could have just whooped his ass, instead of burying him.

may he rest in peace

AaronUniversal said:

kids have been doing stupid shit for all of eternity I bet. It's just in the modern world they have access to bigger things to do that stupid shit with...

The impulse control of a teen isn't fully developed nor is their ability to reason logical consequences from actions. They don't desrve to die because of this...

endorphin74 said:

And a lot of kids do shit to fit in or because of a dare.

EvilWhiteMale said:

at least he wasn't beat up by 5 black kids or we'd really have a lot to talk about...

endorphin74 said:

maybe not, but i giggle when i hear about stupid people dying stupid deaths while doing stupid things

ever seen "banned from television" the lady thought she could beat the train...beyond stupid!!!