WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn — Straight out of a nightmare or a bad episode of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", seven mysterious figures climbed out of a sewer manhole in the middle of a busy Brooklyn intersection early Friday morning, surveillance video obtained by Williamsburg 365 shows.
The bizarre scene unfolded around 3:30 a.m. at Bedford Avenue and Lynch Street, where the group emerged one by one from underground like rats fleeing a flood. Video captured the surreal moment: shadowy figures popping the heavy manhole cover, crawling out onto the street, and scrambling around before hopping into a waiting van and speeding off into the night.
Cops say this wasn't a one-off freak show. It was part of a string of odd sewer intrusions across Brooklyn that same night, including another group in Gravesend near McDonald Avenue and Colin Place, where seven or more people were also filmed emerging after hours underground.
In the Williamsburg case, eight people were first spotted entering a manhole near Heyward Street and Bedford Avenue around 1 a.m., according to police and local reports. They resurfaced a couple of hours later at the nearby Lynch Street location before vanishing in a white van.
NYPD, FDNY, and Department of Environmental Protection crews swarmed both scenes with K-9 units and cameras lowered into the sewers. No explosives, damage, hazards, or anything sinister turned up, but officials are still scratching their heads over what the hell these tunnel rats were doing down there.
No arrests have been made, and the probe is ongoing as detectives review footage and hunt for leads. Trespassing into the sewer system can lead to burglary or other charges.
Similar stunts in the past have been tied to scavengers hunting for lost gold, jewelry, or scrap metal to flip for quick cash. But the coordinated timing of these two incidents, miles apart but just an hour or so apart, has locals on edge with wild speculation running from treasure hunters to something far more nefarious.
