Mole men keep emerging from New York City sewers and no one knows why

Men have been popping up from under manhole covers across New York City in the middle of the night for reasons that remain a mystery.

More than a dozen of these real-life Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been spotted entering and exiting the sewer system that runs underneath Brooklyn, often moving in groups.

At least seven people jumped into NYC’s slimy underground tunnels near McDonald Avenue and Colin Place in Gravesend at about 11pm on Thursday.

They re-emerged from the same manhole covers just two hours later, video shared by Yeshiva World News showed.

Another eight men removed a manhole cover and entered the sewer system at Hayward Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg at 1am.

After popping their heads out of the holes at 3.40am, they escaped into a car and fled to an unknown place.

Video posted to X by the local outlet Williamsburg 365 News showed seven people climbing out of the maintenance hole, with the last person closing it behind them.

Footage obtained by NBC New York shows the men holding flashlights and wearing hip waders – extended boots that strap over your belt.

Witness Aki Jakupovic told the broadcaster: ‘Three random guys walking around in a strange suit, open the sewer, go in like Ninja Turtles.’

But the men in the clip could equally be mistaken for the Super Mario Bros, thanks to the overalls they seem to wear when popping in and out of the holes.

The suspects aren’t city sanitation workers, and police believe that they might be hunting for treasure that got flushed into the sewage system.

But locals aren’t convinced and fear these ‘mole men’ are crawling into the sewage system to sneak into banks and shops on the surface.

Olga G joked to the New York Post: ‘That’s too much work for a teeny-tiny bit of jewellery. Unless someone’s robbing jewellery and throwing it down to hide it.

‘I want in if it’s something good.’

Entering a sewage system is illegal, and the suspects could face burglary charges, police said. No arrests or injuries have been reported.

Police conducted a ‘thorough investigation’ of New York’s sewer system on Friday and found ‘the area is safe and free of hazards’.

This isn’t the first time videos of people coming from under Brooklyn have raised eyebrows – videos went viral in 2024 of Orthodox Jews appearing from tunnels surrounding Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters.

Students at the Chabad had secretly constructed tunnels connecting the synagogue with adjacent buildings.

The New York Police Department and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection have been approached for comment.

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