NYPD investigates video of people emerging from Manhattan manhole
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New York police are investigating a new video of three people emerging from a manhole in Manhattan, months after similar incidents were deemed to pose no threat to the public, according to NBC.
A video posted Friday on TikTok showed three people in overalls, wearing what appeared to be headlamps, emerging from a manhole at 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue, near Penn Station and Madison Square Garden.
The incident happened after 4 AM Tuesday (Aug. 18), the person who posted the video told NBC News.
Multiple people seen rising from a manhole in New York City at 4AM pic.twitter.com/Rnm1dZpXeo
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) August 23, 2026
A New York Police Department spokesperson said the agency was aware of the footage. “There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing,” police said.
An inspection of the sewers in the area found no damage to the infrastructure, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection confirmed. T
he agency stressed that entering the sewers is “both illegal and extremely dangerous.”
“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces,” the DEP statement said.
“For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”
Videos of men coming out of manholes in various parts of the city circulated online in May.
It remains unclear whether the Aug. 18 incident is connected to those earlier sightings, though the individuals were dressed similarly in protective clothing and what appeared to be headlamps.
At the time, police said an investigation found no immediate threat to the public and no damage to the sewer system.
A senior law enforcement official previously told NBC News that the leading theory was that the people were scavenging for valuables.
In June, the NYPD noted that its Emergency Services Unit had checked the sewers and found nothing nefarious left behind.
The latest video has renewed public curiosity about the recurring early-morning appearances from New York City’s underground infrastructure.
