New York City has long been home to many underground scenes; few have taken the term quite this literally. It all started in early May, when three overall and head-flashlight clad individuals were filmed opening a manhole cover, descending into obscurity, and then emerging a few hours later. (They replaced the manhole cover after all had exited, manners still count.) This happened in the wee hours of the morning in Astoria, Queens. A bystander who observed the clandestine operation told local news the trio looked like “Ninja Turtles” or “Mario Bros.” To me their getups screamed Minions. Weird episode, but not enough to rattle the city that never sleeps… Until it happened again later that month, with two cadres being spotten within hours of each other in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Gravesend and Williamsburg, only with even more conspirators (up to eight!) at each. Same MO: late night, overalls and head flashlights, closed the lid when done.

The NYPD looked into the incidents but didn’t turn up any concrete leads, though they did confirm that no sewers had been damaged. Then all went quiet, and we thought the craze had passed like so many cronuts before it. But it hasn’t! Last week another troop was caught on camera just after 4 am, this time near Penn Station in Manhattan. And so the NYC interwebs have declared, with what I imagine to be deadpan verging on supreme indifference: “The manhole people are back.”

Earlier this summer, surveillance footage has caught multiple groups of people leaving, or entering, manholes in the middle of the night.

Two incidents were reported in Brooklyn after police were called for individuals seen going into the manholes. One of the groups was seen leaving about three hours afterward, according to the NYPD, while the second odd circumstance ended after individuals were seen crawling out and leaving in a vehicle more than two and a half hours after.

At the time, police said there was no threat to the public, and that the sewer systems were investigated after the unknown individuals spent hours in the underground tunnels.

The NYPD said that they were investigating after three people were seen leaving a Manhattan manhole with headlamps on.

Video shows the group, wearing overalls, pulling themselves out from underground and running away. Reports say that the incident happened at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, and that the sewers were inspected afterward.

It isn’t immediately clear why these groups have been seen going in and out of manholes. Earlier this summer, a law enforcement official said the NYPD’s main theory is that the Brooklyn trespassers were looking for valuables, according to NBC New York at the time.

In a past statement to USA TODAY, the Department of Environmental Protection emphasized that entering sewer systems in NYC is not only illegal, but “extremely dangerous.”

It isn’t entirely clear why the groups were going into the manholes, leading many to come up with their own theories online. But one thing is for sure: the individuals sneaking into the manholes overnight faced serious risks.

The DEP said that multiple hazards are in the systems, including:

-noxious and possibly deadly gases
-unstable surfaces
-potential flooding
-confined spaces

“For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall,” the agency said. New York City’s sewer network is complex, with pipes spanning over 7,400 miles.

[From USA Today]

What flummoxes me more than these late night drainage dives, is the fact that all the NYPD has turned up on the conspiracy is, “I guess they’re looking for valuables.” Is Detective Benson on the case?? Because SHE would get to the bottom of this, I’m sure, and she’d probably even unearth the stolen Louvre jewels while she’s at it, too! Also, do these underground ninja minions not know that NYC sanitation workers are preternaturally helpful in finding the needle of gems in the haystack of waste and debris? I’d shrug and say, “Eh, everyone needs a hobby,” but this is a huge public safety risk. And speaking of, much has been made about the head flashlights, but I see no clear signs of masks on any of these mystery folks — how can they stand what they’re exposing themselves to?! Anyway, as they seem to be out to conquer each borough, be on the lookout, Bronx and Staten Island: the manhole people are coming.

The manhole people are back .

They were spotted at 4 am in Manhattan exiting another man hole . pic.twitter.com/F2VUD7DwAE

— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) August 22, 2026

Photo note by CB: Photos are screenshots from YouTube. Image on the frontpage is from the excellent 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. You can see the clip here