NEW YORK — August 24, 2026. One of the strangest stories circulating across New York social media this morning involves a viral video showing people climbing out of a Manhattan manhole near Penn Station in the middle of the night.
The footage, which spread across TikTok, Reddit and X over the weekend, shows several people wearing overalls or waders and headlamps emerging from a manhole near West 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue, just steps from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden.
The incident has now drawn the attention of the NYPD, while New Yorkers online are asking a simple question:
What were they doing underneath Manhattan?
Five guys emerge from a manhole near Penn Station at 4:19 AM
by u/PinkLover727 in newyorkcity
The Video That New Yorkers Are Sharing
ABC7 New York reported early Monday morning that the NYPD is investigating a video showing three people climbing out of a sewer near Penn Station.
According to the person who originally posted the footage, the incident occurred shortly after 4 a.m. on August 18.
Watch the ABC7 New York report and video
The video has also generated significant attention on Reddit.
One post in the r/newyorkcity community described the scene as taking place around 4:19 a.m. and attracted more than 1,500 upvotes by Sunday.
Watch the video and see the discussion on Reddit
Another discussion on r/nyc drew hundreds of comments, with users focusing on the group’s similar clothing, equipment and apparently coordinated movements.
NYPD Is Investigating
The NYPD confirmed that police are aware of the footage.
According to ABC7, no arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection also inspected the sewer infrastructure in the area and reportedly found no damage.
DEP warned New Yorkers not to imitate what they saw in the video.
Entering the sewer system without authorization is illegal and can be extremely dangerous because underground infrastructure can contain toxic gases, unstable surfaces, confined spaces and sudden flooding hazards.
This Is Not the First Time
What has made the new video particularly interesting to New Yorkers is that similar incidents have already occurred this year.
Videos circulated in May showing groups emerging from manholes in Williamsburg and Gravesend, Brooklyn.
Some individuals in those videos appeared to be carrying shovels.
Police subsequently investigated the underground areas.
A senior law-enforcement official previously told NBC News that one theory was that the individuals may have been searching the sewer system for valuables. Authorities ultimately said they found no immediate danger to the public and no evidence of damage to the sewer infrastructure.
There is currently no confirmed evidence that the people seen near Penn Station are connected to those earlier Brooklyn incidents.
“Mole People,” Urban Explorers — or Something Else?
That absence of an explanation has fueled the social-media discussion.
New Yorkers have jokingly dubbed the people in the videos “mole people,” while others have invoked everything from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to secret underground expeditions.
Some Reddit commenters, however, pointed to something more mundane but intriguing: the people appear to have equipment appropriate for moving through wet underground spaces and seem to know exactly what they are doing.
That still does not tell us why they were there.
Possible explanations circulating online include urban exploration, scavenging for lost valuables or simply a stunt designed to generate social-media attention.
None of those explanations has been officially established.
Three People — or Five?
There is another interesting discrepancy in the social-media story.
ABC7 and other news reports describe three people appearing in the footage.
Reddit posts sharing the recording, however, describe five people emerging from the manhole.
For that reason, the safest description at this stage is simply that multiple people were recorded emerging from the manhole.
What Is Confirmed
As of Monday morning, August 24:
- a viral video shows people emerging from a manhole near Penn Station;
- the incident reportedly occurred shortly after 4 a.m. on August 18;
- NYPD is aware of the video and is investigating;
- no arrests have been announced;
- DEP inspected the sewer infrastructure and found no reported damage;
- similar incidents were recorded in Brooklyn earlier this year;
- authorities have not established publicly why the individuals were underground;
- there is no confirmed connection between the Manhattan and Brooklyn incidents.
For now, one of New York’s most talked-about videos of the morning remains exactly what made it viral in the first place:
a mystery beneath the streets of Manhattan.
Sources
ABC7 New York — August 24, 2026
NYPD investigating video of three people climbing out of sewer near Penn Station
New York Post — August 23, 2026
New video shows trio of headlamp-wearing “mole people” emerge from NYC manhole near Penn Station
Reddit — r/newyorkcity
Video: People emerge from a manhole near Penn Station
Reddit — r/nyc
New Yorkers discuss the Penn Station manhole video
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