New York City’s underground has always inspired stories about hidden tunnels, abandoned stations and even sewer-dwelling alligators, but now even people are emerging from below the streets. A video shows several people climbing out of a manhole near Penn Station and Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. At around 4 a.m., three people wearing dark overalls and headlamps emerged one after another. The group apparently left the area before police arrived. Similar scenes surfaced in Astoria, Queens, with three people wearing waders and carrying flashlights reportedly entered a manhole. The separate sightings led tabloids and social media users to label the groups “mole people,” although authorities have not said the participants were living underground. There also is no confirmed evidence that all the incidents involved the same people or were coordinated. Police now believe at least some of the people seen in earlier cases were scavenging for valuables that had fallen or washed into the sewer system. New York maintains roughly 7,500 miles of sewer pipes, and police warn that sewers can contain hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other gases capable of causing unconsciousness or death. Other hazards include contaminated water, slippery or unstable surfaces, rats, sharp objects, and sudden changes in water level. Not only is entering a sewer dangerous, police say it’s also illegal.
