{"id":1529,"date":"2026-06-05T14:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:03:17","slug":"new-york-city-manhole-mole-people-urban-explorers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=1529","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Doo Doo Water and a Few Needles\u2019: Inside the Mystery of the New York City Manhole Prowlers"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In recent days,<\/span> a fantastical question has captured the attention of New Yorkers<\/a> and local tabloids<\/a>: Who is popping in and out of manholes across the city, and what are they doing in the sewer system?<\/p>\n

On May 5<\/a>, security footage showed three people wearing hip waders entering a manhole in Queens. Then, in the early morning hours of May 29<\/a>, another camera captured a group of people exiting a manhole in Brooklyn. The same day, a different<\/a> group was seen emerging from another Brooklyn manhole, miles away from the first location. Some wore headlamps<\/a>, and some were carrying what appeared to be shovels<\/a> and flashlights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The New York Police Department<\/a> has speculated<\/a> that the men are scavengers looking for jewelery, guns, or other valuables. But no one knows for sure, so WIRED consulted with several urban exploration content creators active in New York City. On platforms like TikTok<\/a>, YouTube, and Instagram, \u201curbex\u201d creators\u2014typically teenage boys or young men who film together in small groups\u2014explore abandoned or difficult-to-access spaces like defunct factories, dilapidated mansions, and underground tunnels.<\/p>\n

The creators who spoke to WIRED say they didn\u2019t recognize anyone from the video footage. By and large, they did not claim the alleged sewer bandits as their own.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing of value down there besides \u201cdoo doo water and a few needles,\u201d one creator says. \u201cAnd sewers are pretty risky, because there is basically zero cell service down there.\u201d (Because this kind of exploration is illegal, the creators spoke on the condition of anonymity.)<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody does sewers,\u201d says another creator when WIRED asked if the manhole men could be part of the urbex community. \u201cIt\u2019s just such an old system and people don’t know a lot about it.\u201d The men in the videos \u201cwere way too sophisticated about it,\u201d the creator says, pointing to the fact that some switched clothes<\/a> after they emerged.<\/p>\n

Another creator claimed that the city\u2019s subway tunnels and abandoned stations are better filming locations, noting that people could capture close-up views of trains and \u201cprestigious graffiti.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2010, the New York Times went on a guided tour<\/a> of subterranean New York City, including parts of the sewer system that have entrance points in the Bronx\u2019s Van Cortlandt Park and Queens\u2019s Kissena Park. The article included descriptions of \u201ca condom and gooey scraps of toilet paper\u201d floating in \u201ccoffee-colored murk,\u201d but no marvelous graffiti.<\/p>\n

Another creator says that a draw of entering a manhole may be the potential of finding abandoned<\/a> trolley tracks<\/a>. They claim they know \u201ca couple people who went in sewer manholes just for the thrill of the exploration,\u201d but added that it was a \u201clong time ago,\u201d and that \u201cnobody in the urbex scene today actually knows which manholes to open to access trolley lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMultiple people going into different sewers across NYC seems fishy to me,\u201d the creator says. \u201cThis might be more than just exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NYPD and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the sewage system, both tell WIRED they investigated the sewage system locations shown in the surveillance footage, and said the situation doesn\u2019t present a threat to public safety. (The DEP also stressed that such activity is \u201cboth illegal and extremely dangerous.\u201d)<\/p>\n

WIRED wasn\u2019t able to locate any recent urbex content that showcased New York City\u2019s sewer systems. The most common type of content shows subway tunnels, abandoned subway stations, and non-public rooftops on Manhattan skyscrapers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent days, a fantastical question has captured the attention of New Yorkers and local tabloids: Who is popping in and out of manholes across the city, and what are they doing in the sewer system? On May 5, security footage showed three people wearing hip waders entering a manhole in Queens. Then, in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[216,606,580,181,607],"class_list":["post-1529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-cities","tag-content-creators","tag-new-york-city","tag-police","tag-viral"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Doo Doo Water and a Few Needles\u2019: Inside the Mystery of the New York City Manhole Prowlers - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An \u201curban explorer\u201d tells WIRED their mother checked in to make sure they weren\u2019t one of the people seen scurrying out of a manhole with their friends.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=1529\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Doo Doo Water and a Few Needles\u2019: Inside the Mystery of the New York City Manhole Prowlers - 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