Twelve-year-old skater girl Zemfira Mukhtarov, who died along with a teen friend while riding on top of a Brooklyn train, had been planning to spend the evening baking brownies with her dad before sneaking out of the house.
According to reports, Ruslan Mukhtarov, who immigrated from Azerbaijan and works as a woodworker, described his daughter as one of a kind, “honest to a fault” and full of curiosity.
He said he still struggles with the fact that she left their Bay Ridge home without permission on Saturday before her life was cut short.
Even though he acknowledges that Zemfira made her own choices, Mukhtarov said multiple factors played a role in her death, from social media influences to busy family schedules and a subway system that lacked more protections.
“The day before she died, we were going to bake brownies together,” Mukhtarov said. “She always had great ideas. She wanted to sell the brownies at the local market, and I was happy to help her. But we never got the chance.”
Zemfira was set to turn 13 later this month. Her death marks one of the youngest subway surfing fatalities in New York City in recent memory.
Last September, 11-year-old Cayden Thompson died after climbing on a train in Park Slope, also influenced by social media.
Mukhtarov has a message for parents who still get to hug their kids at night.
“If I had more time, maybe things would have been different, though nothing is guaranteed,” he said. “What I’ve realized is to make time for family whenever you can. Those moments matter more than the small things that get in the way. Memories of love stay with you even after something you could never imagine happens.”
In the wake of his daughter’s death, Mukhtarov is calling for stronger safety measures. He said Zemfira was “incredibly sociable” and easily made new friends.
“She met someone new almost every day,” he said. “I always tried to be more than her dad. I wanted to be her friend too, but it wasn’t easy. I see now how important it is for parents to connect with their kids in ways that feel real to them, not just through rules and restrictions.”
Zemfira and her friend, a 13-year-old girl, climbed onto the top of a J train early Saturday morning, police said. The train arrived at the Marcy Avenue station around 3:10 a.m. after crossing the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan. Both teens suffered fatal head injuries on the last car of the train.
A police source said the 911 call came from another subway surfer who had been with the girls at some point during the incident.
Mukhtarov believes social media played a big role in what happened.
“That’s where she first saw videos of kids climbing trains and bridges,” he said. “It’s a dangerous game, and I wish I had known about it sooner.”
The girls’ deaths are part of a worrying pattern. About 11 hours before the J train incident, a 14-year-old boy fell off the top of a Manhattan-bound No. 7 train in Queens and was rushed to a hospital with deep cuts to his face. In July, a 15-year-old boy died after climbing on top of a train at a Queens station.
Saturday’s tragedy brought the total number of subway surfing deaths in New York City to five this year. Last year, six people died while riding on top of trains, and five died in 2023, according to NYPD statistics.
Despite efforts to curb the trend, including public service campaigns and drone surveillance, arrests for subway surfing have fallen by 25 percent so far this year, from 162 last year to 128 this year. In total, 229 subway surfers were arrested in 2024 and 135 in 2023.
Authorities continue to warn families about the risks of riding on trains in this dangerous way, but the losses keep mounting, leaving parents like Mukhtarov urging other families to treasure every moment with their children.