What drives people to do these things? I got a call from a devastated parent this morning telling that one of my employees had been killed on the subway in the early hours, and after going online and rooting around the news sites it turns out he'd been trying to surf the train. Of all the things...he was a nice kid as well. Just boggles my mind the kind of risks people take and for no good reason. Climbing mountains I can understand - there's the sense of achievement and the amazing views, but what exactly do you get out of riding on top of a dirty, stinking subway train in Brooklyn? 

That is a particularly stupid way to end your life. How dreadful for his parents.

It's always sad to hear about a young life being cut short. I know myself, and I did a lot of things in my teens that could have got me killed or jailed. It was only blind luck that I managed to make it through my youth relatively unharmed. 
 
Like the Germans say, "we grow too soon old and too late smart".
 
Sorry for your loss James.

This kid, was somewhat of an Instagram celeb with a million followers because he used to scale skyscrapers and bridges and take those stomach churning photos of his legs dangling over the edge. He got covered by a couple of newspapers and large blogs and that's how he ended up with a big following. When I hired him he told me that he was trying to disassociate himself with all of that and deleting all the photos because he was hoping to join the NYPD in a couple of years. I guess the reckless streak never left him. I think his girlfriend was with him at the time, I can imagine she probably tried to stop him from doing it. I had to call a lot of clients this morning and everyone was totally cut up about it because they liked him. It's a total waste. 

Just saw this article about him online, he had some really amazing photography on Instagram. Not the million followers I thought he had but still a huge following and there's been a ton of references to him on Facebook and Twitter today from people who said he influenced them. What a shame. 
 
http://gothamist.com/2016...ubway_surfer_urbex.php

Wow.  Just wow...
 
Another Darwin Award nominee.

I went to a memorial for Chris this evening at the Brooklyn Bridge Park. It was really nice, loads of his friends, family and Instagram followers were there to pay their respects. They had some of his photos on display with lots of candles and a large skateboard made of flowers. It's a stunning location as well with the bridges and the Manhattan skyline just across the river.  I spoke to his parents and they were so proud of their boy, and so pleased that I'd given him the chance to do something that he loved before he passed away (work with dogs). 
 
The initial reports of his death were largely BS and I've since found out more from his parents and girlfriend. Contrary to the NY Post articles (and the hundreds of other outlets worldwide which picked up the story), he wasn't "train surfing," he was trying to get a shot over the top of the train as it came out of the tunnel. So he climbed up the end of one of the cars and it's likely he misjudged the distance between the top of the car and the overhead beams - he was struck in the head and fell off the train. Probably a very instantaneous death (hopefully). And it wasn't 4:30am as reported, nor was he particularly drunk according to his girlfriend. They'd been out briefly after work and he was coming home at 9:30pm, but they didn't find the body until 4:30am. 
 
Anyway his father was just bursting with pride for his son tonight and was very keen for everyone to post links to his photo stream on Instagram, so here it is. He did recently delete many of his more "dangerous" shots because he had thought it might harm his future career, but I think the family are going to get them out there at some point. If you like futuristic city scapes then you'll no doubt love these. 
 
https://www.instagram.com/heavy_minds/

Those are some wonderful photos. What a tragedy.

Great pictures. Very talented.