Another group has been seen climbing out of a manhole on the Upper East Side, following last month’s arrests in a similar incident in the neighborhood.
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Five people, including at least one woman, came out of a manhole on East 82nd Street at around 2:10 a.m. Friday, ABC7 New York first reported. Police told PIX11 the group emerged near 525 East 82nd Street.Last month, three people were seen climbing out of a manhole near Park Avenue and East 61st Street, an incident that drew heightened police attention because it happened during the UN General Assembly. Two Queens men, Kevin Rodriguez and Samuel Reveron, were arrested days later and charged with trespassing. They told investigators they’d been looking for valuables that get washed into the storm drains and sewers.
After Friday’s sighting, the group left in a black Suburban, police told CBS New York. ABC7 reported the vehicle was last seen heading toward East End Avenue. No one was hurt, and no arrests have been made, police said.
Officers responded with the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, and two shovels and two other tools were pulled from the manhole, according to ABC7. The NYPD told CBS New York it couldn’t confirm whether any tools had been recovered.
Police say they don’t know whether Friday’s incident is connected to earlier reports of people in the sewers, which have come up across the five boroughs since at least May. CBS New York also noted a similar incident on Long Island in August.
A DEP spokesperson has said that entering the sewer system is illegal and dangerous, pointing to hazards that include noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding and confined spaces.
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