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A young Queens boy was hit and killed by an oncoming LIRR train near the Forest Hills station yesterday afternoon. Ari Kraft and his friends had been tagging signal boxes when a train headed to Huntington hit him. The police say they had been taking pictures of their work before they crossed the tracks to leave. According to the Daily News, Kraft managed to beat one train on a third track and he thought he was in the clear, but "that train had blocked Ari's view of the eastbound train on the last track."
Friend Diana Samudio who was at the scene spoke to the Post:
"We just heard the explosion of the can, and then the ambulance came," said Diana Samudio, 14. "Ari was known for his graffiti. He was really good at it."Kraft lived in Rego Park and was apparently trying to head home for Sabbath dinner. A neighbor told the Daily News, "[Mother Yaffa Simantov]was very protective. He had a cell phone so she could keep in touch. She would wait outside for him to come home. He was basically a good kid. He was a little wild. . . . Hey, he was 13."Samudio said she often spray painted the walls with Kraft and often did large murals like "Remember 9/11" under the tag name "Corporal."
"He was a good kid. He didn't deserve this," said Samudio. "He did some nice pieces. He was talented."
The train had been going 45 miles an hour, with the impact "scattering" the remains. LIRR service was suspended during the investigation for three hours and passengers were reportedly angry about needing to turn back to Penn Station .
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why didn't jake dobkin, the guy who glorifies this type of vandalism, make a post about the kid who got killed because of it?
Sad loss of a young persons life.
If only his proud parents would have taught him to use his artistic skills in a productive environment instead of condoning murals that equate to vandalism on public property.
Can't find any of his tags on flickr.
"often did large murals like "Remember 9/11" under the tag name "Corporal."
this sounds like an exaggeration
a kid's dead and all you can comment on is how what he did was vandalism? douchebag.
I see kids/drunk kids jump down onto tracks all the time for kicks. FH LIRR is a great hang out spot for stoner teens, rolling joints infront of me and drinking beer. Most arent even teens, look like middle school kids, which lines up with the above, I guess they arent old enough to find clubs and drug dens yet. I think its about time one of them gets killed. Im sad the Wendys on 71 ave closed a few years ago, it was the major teen hangout in FH (from observation).
He died because of his vandalism. Maybe if he wasn't down on the tracks he wouldn't have died. It's awful that family has to bury their young son, but it's not like he died while playing video games at his friends house.
You guys write with such a high-and-mighty attitude. Did you collect stamps when you were 13? Or were you into bird watching?
pete says:
"I think its about time one of them gets killed."
Do you really think that? Do you really wish death on a young kid? Are you an actual human being?
It’s sad what happened and all, but what the hell was he doing crossing the LIRR tracks during the PM Rush???
I was stuck on the train standing for 2 hours because of him. If he was wise he would’ve done his spray painting at a more reasonable time when there’s ALOT less trains running, like after 12??? Is that too much to ask???
I never tagged LIRR property, or hung out on train tracks where speeding trains could kill me! My friends and I hung out on our street corner, talking crap, and thinking we were cool. Would have been hard to bird watch in the dark, so we just stood around with our hands in our pockets thinking we were the coolest kids in the world.
If he was wise, he wouldn't have done any spray painting at any time. Let's face it, he died for the worst reason possible -- pure vanity. It's the reason all graffiti writers do what they do. At heart, they're absolutely desperate for attention, probably can't get it any other way. So they splash their tags all over the place, because then people will see it and they can be "famous" or even infamous. Either way, it suits them. At least they get the attention. It's the same kind of mindset as flashers.
"He was a good kid?"
He was a damned vandal who was stupid and got killed.
Could we stop lionizing vandalism here?
And then the mother saying he was a good kid. Obviously not, and if she had been a better mother, maybe he wouldn't have been tagging LIRR signal boxes and would've made Sabbath dinner.
Give me a damned break.
"Did you collect stamps when you were 13?"
Haha I actually did collect stamps when I was 13! Lame I know...oh wait, I wasn't hit by an LIRR train and died.
when i was 13 i listened to ska and would skank at the local ska shows...not once putting myself in harm of a moving train but still having a great time as an idiot tween.
CRAZY, I KNOW.
Good Riddance to Bad Garbage. I only wish kids like these would be shot in the genitals and let bleed slowly to death, Getting run over by a train is to good for them.
Rules are Rules, no jumpie the trackie.
get hittie by trainie.
Now if he renounced his citizenship, is he allowed to not pay taxes? that's the question.
wow you guys are dicks. i feel for this kid hard....mostly cause he obviously didn't know what he was doing and was more thrillseeking than anything. you don't go on commuter or subway tracks during rush hour unless you have the knowledge of a track worker. too bad
Hard to feel bad for a kid who defaces property and this wasn't his first time. as a friend states, he was known for his graffiti.
Now what does that tell you? This wasn't subway tracks, this was commuter rail. You know, where bored white kids do their graffiti.
And another thing, 9/11 graffiti?? I thought you conservatives would hate graffiti?
I'll be sure to eulogize 9/11 the next time I deface signal boxes with my shitty graffiti. That way, I'll be a hero in the message boards of Gothamist! Huzzah!
He's 13 and his graffiti partner is 14 and their graffiti work is 9/11 related? 9/11 happened when they were seven or eight and they're doing it now?
Do they even know people in the military?
I LOVE "SABBATH DINNER".
I AM IRON MAN.
a kid's dead and all you can comment on is how what he did was vandalism? douchebag.
No, but I can certainly not feel bad for someone who died doing something dangerous. When people die skydiving or bungee jumping, I don't feel bad for them either.
I do feel bad for their families. Until they sue someone, then they can die too for all I care.
You privileged liberal assholes forget that graffiti is regarded as legitimate art in the art world. not everyone has the luxury of attending art school and getting their fucking bfa, or going to a good public school that has an art program that fosters their creativity. i mean, granted, this kid may have had more access then say your run-of-the-mill urban kid, but a kid died. there are few people that DESERVE to die, and no matter how you feel about graffiti (how else does it affect you, aside from bringing down the property value of your overpriced pre-fab condo?), no one deserves to get run over by a fucking train.
the smoke and mirrors of the internet-- none of you would ever have the balls to breathe such callous words in public.
I'm no Lib and I hate graffiti. and, I'm not Privileged. But I bet the kid was, it ain't cheap living in Forest Hills/Rego Park.
Graffiti offends our senses. That's how it affects me.
"You privileged liberal assholes forget that graffiti is regarded as legitimate art in the art world."
I was under the impression that "privileged liberal assholes" are precisely the ones that regard graffiti as "legitimate art in the art world."
"Not everyone has the luxury of attending art school and getting their fucking bfa."
Maybe if he didn't stupidly get himself killed for the sake of your "art," he could have fostered his creativity at school or at home, gotten through public school, and gotten a scholarship for college. But now we'll never know if he would have had the chance of going to art school or getting his "fucking bfa," now will we?
"How else does [graffiti] affect you, aside from bringing down the property value of your overpriced pre-fab condo?"
For starters, I don't live in an "overpriced pre-fab condo." Graffiti affects me because it makes my city look disgusting. Graffiti should neither be tolerated nor passed off as legitimate art.
"None of you would ever have the balls to breathe such callous words in public."
You're rationalizing this young man's death as occurring in his pursuit of artistic expression. You completely ignore the fact that he broke the law, defaced property, and endangered his life, as well as the lives of anyone riding LIRR that night. Now the conductor of that train has to live with the fact that he killed that young man.
You're the one who is being callous.
did hell freeze over?
Conservative Gothamist posters are now feeling bad for this kid? (except for a few)
did this become a conservative cause celebre?
"why didn't jake dobkin, the guy who glorifies this type of vandalism"
he doesn't gloify it, he archives it.
LIRR to babble on--
come fight me
We got our First ever Gothamist,
Tough Guy!
First off, its not the liberals who hate graffiti for the most part, its conservatives with their heads so far up their asses that can't see the beauty of something they don't understand. But, that point can be argued either way.
The thing that gets my skin crawling is every person that says they don't feel bad for this kid because he was a vandal; do you all really believe that defacing of public property should be punishable by death? Do you all think that we should still burn people at the stake if they weigh less than the bible? People that do graffiti ARE breaking the law whether you think it's art or not. With that said, there is no circumstance where a young child's death should be looked upon as a good or just thing. He was a human being, and no one should be so quick to deal out death. Even if his mom was lying and he was a little scumbag that smoked weed and drank every night, which we don't know if he did or not, he still should not be killed because of it. Dealing out life and death is one being's job, and your not Him.
No one is "dealing out death". He was not punished for being a vandal, per se. He WAS punished for being a rather stupid. I do feel sorry for him and his family, but he is repsonsible for his actions.
BTW, I'm no fan of so-called "street art."
And, Jon, you make my skin crawl.
Wow, who knew the "he was a good kid" quote works outside the hood?
We really are all the same.
You privileged liberal assholes forget that graffiti is regarded as legitimate art in the art world. not everyone has the luxury of attending art school and getting their fucking bfa
Art degrees are more useless than writing degrees. You are either good at it or you're not. No one needs a BFA to buy art supplies and learn to paint. If you suck at it and no one will buy it, sorry. If you're an attention whore who forces it on people, then you're a douchebag.
there are few people that DESERVE to die, and no matter how you feel about graffiti
True, but standing on a train track is a good way to have it happen to you. Would you feel the same if, say, your mom was on the train and the accident killed her?
(how else does it affect you, aside from bringing down the property value of your overpriced pre-fab condo?)
You know what? That's enough for me. I'm sure if someone tagged something of yours, you'd throw your hands in the air and say "those crazy kids." It's always ok when it doesn't affect you.
the smoke and mirrors of the internet-- none of you would ever have the balls to breathe such callous words in public.
Frankly, yes I would.
I was wrong. Graf writers don't just do it for the attention. "Jammer" reminded me of that. They also tend to be angry people who, for whatever reason, feel that they're being deprived of what they're entitled to. So they deface other people's property because it's their way of getting even with the haves. Jammer's profanity-filled rant proves that by the way he keeps slamming people with "privilege" and "condos." I may happen to think Donald Trump is a privileged asshole who has much more than he deserves, but I wouldn't vandalize any of his buildings even if I was absolutely sure I wouldn't be caught. Some of us were just brought up right.
I smoked some weed
I toked a line
and even downed some pills
I grabbed my can of aerosol
and went to Forest Hills
I looked both ways
and then I jumped
down onto that ol' track
when I heard a BOOM because
..I never did look back
Lots of disgusting comments on this tragedy. May God bring pain and suffering on the families of anyone who made such horrible comments in the midst of a 13 year old boy's death.
Though I agree this 13 year old boy's death is tragic, isn't it counter productive to wish "pain and suffering on the families of anyone who made such horrible comments"?
A person's admiration for graffiti is inversely proportional to the amount of real estate he owns. Trust me, once you buy an apartment, the graffiti on your block will start to drive you crazy.
Still waiting to hear from Dobkin on this one.
OK Jammer,
I dislike vandalism of private property, but I'll admit that there's some pretty amazing street art out there. However, this kid was tagging signal boxes.
What do you think about tags sprayed over street art, like complex murals, executed with careful precision by people with artistic talent?
I don't scribble my name on paintings when I go to the Met.
Or is tagging "art" too?
seriosly you guys are so fucked up, today was the funeral, his mom was hysterically crying and didnt want to be by the casket, the damage was so bad it was a closed casket, he wasnt even in one piece, honestly you faggots talking shit, i hope soomeone in your fucken family has this incident and you see how he feels honestly, you guys are so fucked up
elul21,
Why on earth would you wish "soomeone" in our "fucken families" to have "this incident" happen to them if you saw what it did to the mother of the young man? Doesn't that make you a "faggot talking shit" as well?
I doubt many will get this far down in the comment thread, but I feel compelled to write nonetheless.
Ari was just a kid. Kids do stupid things. We all did. He did not "deserve" to die. Few of us would be here today if death were the just deserts for every stupid thing children and teenagers do.
This is not about grafitti. This is about the tragic and premature death of a 13 year-old child. And simple human decency should move us to--at the very least--respect his parents' loss. The fact that he was knowingly risking his life is besides the point at this stage. So is the fact that he had broken the law and defaced private property.
I do not deny the fact that the law must be upheld. I also believe that grafitti, being an infringement of other people's rights, should be curbed. But I would find it despicable to propose the death penalty for spray painting. And saying this immature, reckless child "deserved" to die for what he did is disgusting.
How stupid are this kid's parents? He climbs through a hole in a fence (trespassing) to perform his art (vandalism) in a place he's not supposed to be. They then have the hide to sue LIRR because of the hole in the fence. Are they so seriously deliusional to think that if the hole wasn't there he would have put down his spray can and just gone home to play Nintendo?
I really do feel for the parents, but to imply that the LIRR is in any way responsible for his tragic death makes them as stupid as the boy.
My condolences to the boy's family. Let this be a wakeup call to all other parents with kids tresspassing through railroad tracks and expressing themselves through illegal graffiti.
that kid was the nicest kid ever i knew him personslly and i think that this is the sadest thing that can happen to people
WoW that sux but i have to agree with the ppl who say he deserved it i mean i go under ground in manhattan where i live and take photos of grafiti and its called urban exploration, theres a whole societ of these teens like me and have tons of websites like mycexploration.com and others. I mean were all smart enough to go at like 2 am, and never cross a track when a train is coming with tracks next to it just walk on the sides and my fave is just lye down under the train there is like 16 inches of clearence and in nyc subway sometimes theres like 3 feet dugout between the tracks, thats why there there. and i mean this kid was just stupid and now theres gonna be all these security lock downs and it will be tougher for the smarter kids to get away with it like me
I'm glad he took the bait. The boy walks with me now. His genetic configuration has been cancelled. Yes, the danger is thrilling - and I, Charles Darwin, beckon the foolish and the inattentive so they might exit the gene pool. The steel-wheeled avatar of Darwinian deliverance is a cold and calculating monster - it creeps up silently and then pounces on the stupid, the distracted, and the Attention Deficit Disordered. I don't really play favourites. Anyone can walk with me. All it takes is a bit of hubris, a pinch of stupidity, and some good old home-brewed distraction, and suddenly you are walking into that bright white light with me. Sometimes that bright white light is a train. Sometimes it is the beacon attached to a clue bat. But usually it is just your brain shutting down for good.
This is a good example of retroactive abortion. He was clearly too stupid to live.
I feel sorry for his parents but they are clearly overstepping by threatening to sue.
Fences exist to tell people "keep out"; but they can't hold everyone out. There are enough criminals cutting fences, trespassing, and performing vandalism. It isn't the RR's fault the fence was cut.
Trains tend to run on tracks. You stand on the tracks and you're taking a big chance with your life. He took that chance and lost.
First nominee for the 2007 Darwin Award.
This kid did a dumb move and its cost of his life and now, the mother is claiming that it the LIRR, MTA, and the City of New York have to paid for her son death. She suing for 20 million dollars. The kid had no reason for being there, and he knows it is breaking the law, but he and his friend still find the way of jumping over the fence and knowinig there was sign of danger all over the tracks. I believe the cost of cleaning the mess should be the mother of this dumb kid plus the damage of LIRR. The one who I feel bad for, is the transportion system and the people is working for.
I grew up 200 yards from the L.I.R.R. tracks. I don't recall my fathers exact words when we moved into that house, but I never forgot the message, which was "Stay off the tracks, don't go near the trains, if you do, I will find out and if the train doesn't kill you I will". Even though I spent countless hours on those tracks doing what high school students do, I always remembered how much danger I was in, so I always made it home. There are three lawyers in my immediate family, and none of them would dream of suing the railroad for my mistakes. That being said, I am sorry the child died, but had it been me, my father would dig me up to yell some more before he thought of suing someone.
how can u people say these things?
this is a big loss.yes he was at the wrong placce at the wrong time but im sure when you were 13 you were'nt like freakiing painting pictures.
instead of being so harsh and thinking of yourselves think of this little boy and his mother.seriously. and you wonder how these things occur.pay more attention to these situations instead of saying i was stuck because of him.wow.thats crazy if this was u in his place and people said this.
This is a tragedy, or maybe the word should be travesty. A thirteen year old died, and that is to be mourned, but that is not the tragedy. Thirteen year olds die all the time. The tragedy is that the idiots the kid had for parents did not teach him better. The travesty is that those same idiots are not going to jail for negligent homicide.
It makes no difference what so ever whether the kid was committing a crime or creating art, the reality is the kid committed the one crime where the punishment is death – and there is no appeal. The crime was stupidity in the face of extreme danger. Everyone commits stupid acts at one time or another. But to be stupid in an extremely dangerous situation is a crime whose punishment is swift and sure.
The gnashing of teeth, the whining about the tragedy, and the moaning of the injustice misses the point. A crime was committed, the jury found the criminal guilty, punishment was handed out and justice was served. Stupidity in the face of extreme danger has no appeals process.
So, all parents beware. Train your children to recognize extreme danger and not be stupid in those situations. Otherwise, your offspring may be caught, found guilty, and punished with extreme prejudice and with no second chance.
yo, Ari was one of my best friends, all of you motherfuckers who say he was stupid, dumb, and his parents were losers better shut the fuck up, because if you do not know the details, dont talk. Along with Ari at those tracks that night was two of my other best friends, whom which i have grown up with, I have helped them in life, and they have helped me. Ari was your average neghborhood kid from Queens, like me and my friends, anyone who lives here knows, here in Queens, alot of illegal shit gets done. But for you assholes sitting at home, saying his parents were stupid, because he died? And if he lived, then what would you say. Yes, going on tracks is a stupid thing to do. Graffitti is a stupid thing to do. I AM NOT DEFEINDING IT. I AM NOT A GRAFFITTI WRITER. But besides the fact that his parents were divorced, you people sitting hom wrtiting all this nonsence that they were al dumb, how do you know? For all the parents reading this, how do you know your kids dont smoke "bud" on weekends, or "tag up" sometimes. And as for the people writing these things who are not parents, how do you know they were bad parents, your not parents, how the fuck are you going to find out? She was a working single mother, who had to support her child. YES I AM DEFENDING HER, YES, I SAID IT. She is one the most sweet and kind people that i have ever met. I know what it is like to live in Queens, NY. Everybody thinks that they are in "da hood" wanting to "get with it" live the life of a hustler, trying to be a badass. All Ari is guilty of tresspassing, graffitti. He died doing what he loved. Art, he didnt only do graffitti, way before that he was doing nice paintings. May his soul rest in peace forever. RIP KOS aKa Ari Kraft. a greath friend until the bitter end. - Everyday i get closer to seeing you again, til the day we meet again, in my heart is where i keep you friend
If you don feel me, be out
Wow,
i cant believe you all.
Its so stupid that so many people take Ari's death in vain.
its immature to think that people are pissed about being late to their job.
A KID DIED for God's sake its not okay!we were all deeply hurt by this!
You people write such ignorant things like "he deserved it"or "If he was such a good kid why did he get killed?"
your so stupid and pointless,it makes me sad to even read those comments.
YOU DIDNT KNOW HIM!!!
why are you jugding him or his mom??or his dad???
wth?
i dont get it .
any of it.
just leave Ari alone .
let him rest in peace.
R.I.P Ari Kraft