A pair of unusual caught-on-camera sightings of men emerging from Brooklyn manholes in recent weeks raised concerns in the Big Apple and sparked an NYPD probe — but sources said it doesn’t appear the weirdos are up to anything sinister.
An NYPD emergency services and New York City Department of Environmental Protection investigation conducted underground found the strange incidents appear to be people scavenging for anything of value that inadvertently made its way into the city’s sewer system, sources told The Post.
Urban scavenging for derelict valuables like coins, wallets, scrap metal or jewelry is a more common practice in other countries around the world, the sources added.
Both incidents took place in the early hours last Friday — when two groups of men were spotted entering and later exiting sewers in Brooklyn, one in Williamsburg and the other in Gravesend, cops said.
Cops investigated the unusual sightings of men emerging from Brooklyn sewers after they were reported Friday. David Burns/@FD4D for NY Post
People exiting a manhole at Bedford Avenue and Lynch Street on May 29, 2026. Courtesy of Williamsburg 365 News
Although the unauthorized subterranean excursions were similar, and happened just five miles apart, police said it wasn’t immediately clear if the incidents were connected.
In the footage of the Gravesend incident obtained by the Flatbush Scoop, a man was seen removing a manhole cover from McDonald Avenue and stashing it on the curb between parked cars.
Moments later, someone popped out of the sewer toting a flashlight, followed by six others in a scene reminiscent of a circus clown car, the footage shows.
Some of them appeared to be wearing waders and boots, and began stripping their sewer-befouled clothing off on the sidewalk before tossing their belongings into three cars waiting nearby.
Footage captured that same night and obtained by Williamsburg 360 showed a group of men lifting a manhole cover and entering the sewer system at Hayward Street and Bedford Avenue around 1 a.m. Friday, cops said.
They were filmed exiting through the manhole around 3:40 a.m. and leaving the scene in a vehicle
All the commotion has left neighbors baffled.
A man holding a shovel at the Williamsburg manhole. Courtesy of Williamsburg 365 News
A group of people emerging from a manhole at McDonald Avenue and Colin Place in Gravesend on May 28, 2026. Obtained by NY Post
A crew working at the manhole that people were seen tampering with in Gravesend on May 29, 2026. Michael Nagle for NY Post“I’m here in this place for 15 years, I’ve never heard of something like that,” said 66-year-old Roufat Kafarov, whose shop ABM Furniture is near the Gravesend manhole.
“That’s crazy,” he added.
Others were skeptical of reports that the subterraneans were scavenging for valuables dropped from above.
“I don’t believe the jewelry part of it,” said 84-year-old Carol Ellen, who works across from the manhole at Tommy’s Auto Repair.
According to police sources, the “mole people” may have been looking for valuables lost in the sewer system. X @YWNReporter“Jewelry down there?” she added. “Something’s not right.”
Ellen feared the underground dwellers could be up to something nefarious – noting both neighborhoods have strong Jewish populations, and that an act of antisemitic sabotage could be afoot.
Police have made no indication that anything of the sort is suspected, but Ellen said it was on people’s minds.
“There’s Syrian Jews here and there’s Orthodox Jews up there,” she said. “This is a very Jewish nabe and that’s Jewish over there. It could be something to do with religion.”
And others in the neighborhood speculated the suspects could be trying to tunnel into a business or nearby bank.
“They’re trying to get into businesses. That, or it’s the banks. There’s a TD Bank on Kings Highway and a Chase around the corner,” 37-year-old neighbor Olga G. said.
“That’s too much work for a teeny-tiny bit of jewelry. Unless someone’s robbing jewelry and throwing it down to hide it.” She added. “I want in if it’s something good.”
