People Keep Climbing Out of New York Citys Sewers. Do We Know Why?

Around 4:30 Wednesday morning, three people climbed out of a manhole near Park Avenue and East 61st Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They got into two vehicles and drove away.

Ordinarily, that would be enough to make me stop and ask what on earth was going on. Except I already asked that question in June, when I wrote Why Are People Climbing Out of New York City’s Sewers? on Medium.

I’d hoped someone might eventually tell us what these people were doing down there. Wednesday’s sighting finally brought an answer, along with a security scare nobody needed.

Location, Location, Location

This particular manhole was near a hotel associated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit for the United Nations General Assembly. Security was already heightened in the area. Three people appearing from beneath the street before dawn were bound to get attention.

Police searched the area and found nothing suspicious. They later arrested two of the men, Samuel Reveron, 25, and Kevin Rodriguez, 26.

According to CBS New York, the men told investigators they had gone into the sewer system looking for valuables washed away during storms.

Valuables. In a sewer?

I suppose people lose rings. Coins get dropped. A necklace might slip through a grate. But I’m trying to picture the calculation that makes several hours beneath New York City seem like a promising way to recover any of it.

An Explanation, but Plenty of Questions

Reveron and Rodriguez were charged with trespass and conspiracy. Both have pleaded not guilty. The NYPD told NBC News that the incident did not appear connected to Netanyahu or the U.N. gathering.

Given the location, police and federal partners conducted additional security sweeps anyway. That seems reasonable to me. You can believe the men were looking for lost valuables and still want to make sure nobody left something dangerous beneath a hotel during a week full of visiting world leaders.

But I keep coming back to the valuables. Are people really finding enough down there to make this worth the trouble?

Apparently, This Is a Thing Now

What makes the story especially strange is that Wednesday’s sighting wasn’t an isolated event.

People have been seen entering or emerging from manholes in other parts of New York City, including Brooklyn and near Penn Station. Some were equipped with waders and headlamps, which suggests more planning than an impulsive decision to check whether a quarter rolled into a drain.

Then, on Friday morning, police received another report of three people climbing out of a manhole in Brooklyn. Authorities had not announced arrests in that incident or established that the people involved were connected to Wednesday’s group.

Still, it’s hard to call the Upper East Side appearance a fluke when another manhole produces another group two days later.

I don’t care if gold pieces are washing through New York’s sewers. I’m not climbing down there to look for them. The thought gives me the ick, and that’s before I picture the rats and whatever creepy crawlies might be moving around in the dark.

I’m not particularly a girlie girl, but I do have my limits.

The City Has Serious Objections

Officials warn that sewers can contain dangerous gases, unstable surfaces and confined spaces. A sudden flood can turn an already terrible place to be into a deadly one.

That’s a frightening amount of risk to take for something you might find. I wouldn’t even consider those odds if someone had dropped a diamond necklace down there in front of me.

Is There a Hidden Wormhole?

Of course, when I think about people climbing into sewers in the middle of the night, my imagination runs wild.

Before this week’s arrests, I pictured everything from a hidden city beneath New York to a wormhole that lets you travel Star Trek style between distant points in the universe.

A shortcut through space or time sounds incredibly cool. It also sounds considerably more appealing than spending the night searching for somebody else’s lost earrings.

When I pitched the wormhole theory to my husband, he rolled his eyes, shook his head, and walked into the kitchen. I think he was hoping I’d escape my insanity bubble by the time he returned.

Is It Gold In Them There Sewers?

Maybe the explanation really is as straightforward as the men told police. People go underground looking for valuables, then come back up and try again another night. I can accept that without understanding the appeal.

But I still want to know: Are they finding enough to make them go back? Or is there something else about these trips we haven’t learned yet?

From up here, the math makes absolutely no sense.

And if anyone has found a fortune down there, please don’t tell me how much. I’d hate to have to reconsider my position on the rats.