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NYC Sewers: Gold Rush or Grimy Gamble?
4 Oct
Summary
- Two men arrested, claiming to seek valuables in NYC sewers.
- Explorers believe gold and other valuables are lost in drains.
- Authorities warn of extreme danger and illegality of sewer entry.
Recent arrests in New York City highlight a peculiar trend of individuals venturing into the city's sewer systems, ostensibly in pursuit of lost valuables. Two men, Samuel Reveron and Kevin Rodriguez, were apprehended in Queens after being tracked via video footage entering a Manhattan sewer.
They confessed to police that their motive was to find gold and other valuable items lost in storm drains. This motive aligns with past arrests, where individuals similarly claimed to search for gold within the sewers. Despite these ambitions, evidence suggests this is not a lucrative endeavor, with one urban explorer reporting finding only an expired credit card in over 100 sewer trips.
The dangers of such exploration are severe. Officials from New York's Department of Environmental Protection have stated that sewer entry is both illegal and life-threatening, citing risks of deadly gases, unstable structures, flooding, and confined spaces. The trend, reminiscent of fictional characters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has seen multiple reported incidents this year alone.
One recent incident on the same day as Reveron and Rodriguez's arrest involved three men spotted exiting a sewer in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, with police discovering a shovel. Despite these repeated occurrences and official warnings, the allure of the underground persists, though its potential rewards remain questionable and the risks undeniable.
