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New York City’s run of people turning up in its sewers has reached the Upper East Side. The NYPD is looking for three people who climbed out of a sewer early Wednesday morning and left the scene in two vehicles.
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Officers responded to a 911 call about a possible crime near 535 Park Avenue at East 61st Street at about 4:35 a.m., the NYPD told ABC7 New York. When they arrived, they learned the three individuals had already exited the sewer and headed north on Park Avenue. An NYPD surveillance camera captured the incident.Police described one vehicle as a silver sedan driven by a white man in a black hoodie. The other was a four-door vehicle driven by a man in a black shirt and gray shorts. No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
The city’s Department of Environmental Protection said it’s aware of people illegally entering the sewer system at the location. “DEP has inspected the sewer and our infrastructure is safe,” a spokesperson said. The agency is asking anyone who sees someone entering the sewer to call 911 right away and give a description.
The sighting comes as police maintain heightened security around the United Nations General Assembly, which has brought world leaders and international delegations to the city this week. Law enforcement officials said the incident appears to fit the pattern of earlier cases, in which some of those involved told police they were searching underground for valuables. Because of the General Assembly, though, the NYPD is conducting additional security sweeps with federal partners.
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It isn’t the first time this year that people have been seen coming out of the city’s sewers. On Aug. 18, three people wearing overalls and what appeared to be headlamps were filmed emerging from a manhole at 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue, near Penn Station, shortly after 4 a.m., according to NBC News. DEP found no damage to the sewers there. In May, video showed seven men, at least three of them carrying shovels, climbing out of a manhole into active traffic near Heyward Street and Bedford Avenue. Police said in June that Emergency Services Unit officers searched the sewer system to make sure nothing had been left behind, and nothing was found. 6abc also reported similar sightings in Brooklyn and Queens earlier this year.In August, NYPD detectives told ABC News they believe many of the underground scavengers caught on camera are migrants searching the sewers for anything of value. Detectives said the men they’d identified or caught up with in other cases were either charged with low-level crimes that were later dismissed because they were first-time offenders, or had their prosecutions declined altogether.
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