Nassau police investigate manhole incident in Wantagh amid 'underground scavenging' trend in NYC

A new — and potentially dangerous — trend called underground scavenging has come to Long Island, where Nassau County police confirmed witnesses and surveillance video had spotted a group of people climbing into a manhole in Wantagh just after 1 a.m. Thursday.

The trend has resulted in numerous sightings so far this year in New York City, with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection earlier this week issuing a statement on the potential dangers. But police believe the Wantagh incident might be the first on Long Island.

Police said the incident was reported at about 1:15 a.m. Thursday with a 911 caller stating at least four males had been seen opening a manhole near the intersection of Wantagh and Jerusalem avenues, then climbing in — and pulling the manhole cover back into place.

Police said Seventh Precinct officers responded to the scene, as did detectives, Emergency Service Unit officers and firefighters from the Wantagh Fire Department. However, police said investigators found no one in the underground sewer system.

No arrests have been made.

The NYPD and NYCDEP said this week there has been an alarming trend of such incidents this year in the city, almost exclusively in Manhattan, with the latest so-called "underground scavenger" incident reported at about 12:36 a.m. Wednesday in the 10th Precinct, Manhattan South.

An exact street address was not immediately available.

Police said that 911 call reported "multiple people" climbing into a manhole — then closing the cover and disappearing.

Last week, video surveillance captured three people — some, wearing miner and caver-style headlamps — climbing out of a manhole near Penn Station. That caused the NYCDEP to issue a statement about potential dangers, noting there are more than 7,400 miles of underground sewer pipes in the city.

"DEP has inspected the sewers at the location, and our infrastructure is safe," a DEP spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to Newsday Friday.

"Entering the sewer system is both illegal and extremely dangerous," the statement added. "Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces. For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall."

An NYPD spokesperson confirmed the department also received reports of manhole incidents on Aug. 18 at 4:19 a.m. at the southeast corner of West 31st Street and Seventh Avenue, and on Wednesday at about 2 a.m. near the intersection of Eighth Avenue and West 29th Street.

Police believe the trend involves people trying to scavenge for valuables such as jewelry, coins and currency in the underground pipes. Reports of arrests for such incidents in New York City date to as early as 2015, when three men were arrested in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

But prior incidents were relatively isolated, while incidents this summer have appeared to escalate in number.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.