Overview
- Surveillance and cellphone videos published by local outlets show at least two separate groups entering and later climbing out of manholes in Brooklyn late Friday, one in Gravesend/Flatbush and one in Williamsburg.
- NYPD officers, including the Emergency Services Unit, swept the sites and opened an active investigation but have made no arrests and say there is no apparent link to terrorism.
- The New York City Department of Environmental Protection inspected one site, found no infrastructure damage, and warned that sewers contain toxic gases, flood risks and confined-space hazards that make entry illegal and dangerous.
- Footage and reporting describe participants wearing headlamps and waders, carrying shovels, removing dirty clothing and loading items into vehicles while eyewitness counts of entrants vary between roughly six and ten people.
- There is precedent for prosecution after similar incidents in Brooklyn in April 2025 when three people who entered sewers were charged with burglary and criminal mischief, a fact that frames possible legal consequences as the probe continues.