Five people were spotted emerging from a Manhattan manhole leading to the sewer system on Friday in another instance of the mysterious phenomenon reported around the city.
Shortly after 2 a.m. five people were seen exiting a sewer manhole on E. 82nd St. near East End Ave. on the Upper East Side, police said. All five individuals then fled in a vehicle, cops said.
A video circulating on social media appears to show officers from the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit using a magnet to pull up two shovels left behind by the mysterious crew.
The mole men have not been caught.
The incident is the latest in a string of similar occurrences happening around the city.
In late September, three men were seen popping out of a manhole on Park Ave. near E. 61st St. on the Upper East Side, across the street from the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu usually stays during the U.N. General Assembly, prompting an underground security sweep by the NYPD.
After emerging, the men, all clad in black, fled in two vehicles. Two of them, Kevin Rodriguez, 26, and Samuel Reveron, 25, were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Police said the men were urban explorers who were searching the sewer system for valuables and that their underground foray was not politically motivated.
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
Samuel Reveron is pictured leaving Manhattan Criminal Court on Sept. 25. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
“We have seen a number of incidents over the past few months of individuals going into the sewer system to look for valuables and other scrap metal after a storm,” the NYPD said in a statement in September.
“I know that there’s been a tie-in between Netanyahu’s appearance in New York and guys in sewers. There’s no connection,” Reveron’s attorney, Brian Kennedy, said at Reveron’s arraignment in Manhattan criminal court. He added that his client intended nothing “malicious.”
Earlier last month a man wearing a black-and-red bandana was seen climbing out of a sewer in Queens before taking off in a vehicle with four other men.
In August, video posted on social media showed three men wearing overalls and head lamps climb out of a manhole on the southeast corner of W. 31st St. and Seventh Ave. in Manhattan.
Similar sightings happened in Brooklyn in May, when two separate groups clambered out of the sewers in Williamsburg and Gravesend only hours apart.
The city Department of Environmental Protection, along with the NYPD, is investigating these incidents.
“DEP is aware of individuals illegally entering the sewer system,” an agency spokesperson said in May. “If observed, residents should immediately call 911 and provide a description so law enforcement can quickly respond.”
The agency has warned New Yorkers that entering the sewer system is both illegal and extremely dangerous.