New York police investigate mysterious cases of men emerging from manholes

Posted on by Taiwo Adebulu

2 min readUpdated: Jun 3, 2026 03:18 PM IST

New York police launched an investigation after several videos, showing groups of people entering and climbing out of the city’s sewer system, took the internet by storm in recent weeks.

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The men were captured removing manhole covers and descending into the sewer systems in neighbourhoods across Brooklyn and Queens, before re-emerging hours later, all in the middle of the night.

The New York City Police Department said the officers searched the sewer systems, but found no threats or suspicious items.

“The NYPD, to make sure there was not a threat to the public, sent their highly trained Emergency Services Unit officers into the sewer system to make sure nothing nefarious had been left behind by the individuals – nothing was found,” the police department told NBC.

“And the city Environmental Protection Department, which manages the system, also went in and apparently found no damage to the sewer system equipment,” it added.

Men believed to be ‘treasure hunters’

The men captured climbing out of the sewer manhole are believed to be “treasure hunters”, CBS News reported, citing police sources.

According to CBS News New York, at least seven men descended underground through a manhole on McDonald Avenue and Colin Lane in Flatbush late Thursday.

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They were later seen coming out of the same manhole after 2 am.

“Entering the sewer system is both illegal and extremely dangerous,” a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told the BBC.

“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces,” the DEP spokesperson said. “For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”

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