Police in New York City are investigating videos that appear to show groups of men climbing out of manholes in Brooklyn last week, a strange set of clips that prompted sewer-system checks and a closer look from the NYPD on Monday. Authorities said there was no threat to the public.
The videos were shared on social media and appeared to show men coming out of manholes in several Brooklyn neighborhoods. In one clip timestamped about 2 a.m. Friday, a man in a white shirt and shorts lifted a manhole cover and let seven men emerge near McDonald and Bedford avenues. The group appeared to be wearing coveralls or protective clothing before quickly changing into different clothes near the same area.
Another Brooklyn video showed a man in a red shirt opening a manhole cover from underneath near Heyward Street and Bedford Avenue, then six people coming out. At least three of them carried shovels, and the six appeared to be wearing or carrying headlamps. Investigators had not immediately linked the two incidents.
That odd trail of footage is what led police to move from screens to the streets and underground. The NYPD sent Emergency Services Unit officers into the sewer system to make sure nothing nefarious had been left behind, and nothing was found. The city Environmental Protection Department also went in and apparently found no damage to sewer equipment.
Police said the men did not appear to be affiliated with any public works crews, and no immediate arrests were made in the apparent trespassing incidents. A senior law enforcement official said the leading theory was that the group was scouring the system for valuables that get into the sewage, but that theory has not been confirmed and the people in the videos have not been identified.
There were no injuries reported, and the investigation remains ongoing. For now, the clips have left police with an unexplained question that matters well beyond one neighborhood: who the men were, what they were doing underground and whether the videos captured a crime, a search or something stranger still.
