Mystery ‘mole people’ haunt New York’s sewers

New York City police said they are working to identify men seen in videos opening manholes and climbing into and out of sewers. They have been called “mole people” by the local press, which theorized the men might be scavenging for valuables washed into the city’s 7,400 miles of sewer pipes. City workers checked the tunnels and found no damage, but they warned of dangers, “including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces.”

Class discussion: What would you do if you saw people in the middle of the night climbing into or out of a manhole in the street? Do you think the “mole people” are really searching for gold, jewels, and other valuables in the sewers? How could they possibly find them in thousands of miles of tunnels? What do you think the sewer explorers are doing? Looking for a place to live? Can you find any reports of homeless people seeking shelter underground, such as in storm drains or subway tunnels?