Mysterious sightings of people entering and emerging from New York City’s underground sewer network this summer have left residents wondering what was happening beneath the streets.
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Two men have been arrested in connection with the latest episode involving people moving through the city’s extensive sewer system, a case that has puzzled both investigators and New Yorkers.
Samuel Reveron, 25, and Kevin Rodriguez, 26, were each booked on two counts of trespassing, NBC News reported.
According to a criminal complaint, the men climbed out of a sewer around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in Manhattan. The manhole was located near the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to stay while attending the U.N. General Assembly.
The two men “identified themselves as the individuals that entered the manhole,” according to the court document. They told authorities they had gone underground together to search for valuables believed to have been swept into storm drains.
Although Reveron and Rodriguez have not been charged in connection with any other sewer incident, New York police said the latest case “fits that same criteria” as previous episodes, NBC News reported.
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Security footage captured several nighttime incidents earlier this summer in which groups entered or exited sewer tunnels through street maintenance holes in Brooklyn and Queens.
In one video from Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, about seven people emerged from a maintenance hole wearing headlamps and carrying what appeared to be shovels and other tools. One person narrowly avoided being struck by a vehicle while climbing out of the ground.
Another recording showed roughly seven people emerging around 2 a.m. from a maintenance hole on a quiet street in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood. They walked to parked cars and retrieved clean clothes to change into. Police said the group had entered the sewer around 11 p.m., suggesting they may have spent approximately three hours underground.
Earlier, in May, three people wearing waterproof hip waders and other protective equipment forced open a maintenance hole cover and descended into a Queens sewer. The last person closed the cover as approaching vehicles slowed to a stop.
Rob Wolejsza, a spokesperson for the department, told the Associated Press in June that entering the sewer system is both illegal and “extremely dangerous.”
“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces,” Wolejsza said in a statement. “For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”