NYPD probes series of manhole exits and sewer scavenging in NYC
The New York Police Department said it opened an investigation on August 18 after three men climbed out of a Manhattan manhole near Penn Station, an act city officials described as illegal and hazardous. Earlier, police reviewed a TikTok clip that showed the three individuals emerging from the manhole and confirmed no arrests had been made and the sewer system was undamaged. The Department of Environmental Protection warned that such activity poses safety risks.
Separate incidents were reported in Brooklyn and Queens earlier in the year, and a similar case on Long Island involved five men entering a storm drain in Wantagh, prompting Nassau County police to launch their own inquiry. Some officials suggested the Manhattan trespassers might be migrants scavenging the sewer for valuables.
