The admission appears to confirm a major theory behind what’s motivating a march of mole people who’ve baffled and enthralled New Yorkers.
Just last month, a trio of headlamp-wearing, overalls-clad “Minions” doppelgangers was caught on viral video popping out of a manhole near Penn Station.
Elusive “mole people” have been spotted crawling out of manholes not only near world leader-filled H๏τels and major transit hubs, but also humble streets in Brooklyn and Queens, since at least late May.
7 Kevin Rodriguez, 26, (pictured) and Reveron were granted supervised release during their arraignments.William Farrington for The NY Post
The deeply weird incidents seemed like the sewer-dwelling cannibalistic humanoid monsters from the 1984 cult classic film “C.H.U.D.” coming to life.
But officials said the most likely explanation was significantly less sci-fi horror, but still outlandish wishful thinking.
“We have seen a number of incidents over the past few months of individuals going into the sewer system to look for valuables and other scrap metal after a storm,” the NYPD said in a statement.
The subterranean shenanigans by Reveron, Rodriguez and at least four other still-unidentified sewer muck divers unfolded early Wednesday near East 61st Street and Park Avenue, prosecutors said – just steps from the swanky Loews Regency New York H๏τel.
7 The arrested pair and a third suspect emerged from an underground pit on Park Avenue near East 61st Street on the Upper East Side, cops said.WABC
Surveillance video showed two separate Toyota Corolla sedans pull up and six shady customers hop out, pry open a sewer cover and hop into the stinky depths beneath the streets, court papers state.
When the trashy troupe emerged, they hopped into the same cars and drove in tandem over the Queensboro Bridge, where license plate readers helped identify the drivers, court documents and sources said.
The hulking Rodriguez was the first suspect identified, leading investigators to body-camera footage from past traffic stops that helped track down Reveron, sources said.
Cops arrested the pair on trespᴀssing and conspiracy charges, leading to their arraignment in Manhattan court Friday.
7 Netanyahu and other dignitaries are staying at the Loews Regency New York down the block from the manhole that the crew allegedly invaded, sources said.Zuma / SplashNews.com
Both were granted supervised release, with the jumbo-sized sewer spelunker Rodriguez dodging questions from a Post reporter outside the courtroom and onto the street. Reveron illegally entered the US, while Rodriguez is a citizen, sources said.
The pair are part of a larger pattern across the city where spelunkers search for precious metals below ground, a law enforcement source said.
Large groups of men were twice spotted plunging into open manholes in Williamsburg and Gravesend in Brooklyn during the early morning hours May 29.
The back-to-back mole men feature was followed by the bizarre August video showing three sewer sojourners in bib overalls and donning headlamps outside Penn Station, who acrobatically left the depths and disappeared into the night.
7 A manhole is seen outside of the Kosher Corner grocery store on McDonald Avenue at Colin Place in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Friday, May 29, 2026.Michael Nagle for NY Post
Another enigmatic nightcrawler – this time clad in a red and black bandana – pulled a similar stunt in Middle Village, Queens in mid-September.
The dust hadn’t even settled on the Regency H๏τel misadventure when another filthy threesome of mole people were spotted climbing out of a Bensonhurst sewer early Friday.
The professional urban explorer Steve Duncan, 48, former founder of Undercity and a now-ex-New Yorker, said he never found anything of value during his hundreds of trips into the city’s sewer system.
The city’s extremely efficient sewer system simply leaves no spaces or cracks where potential valuables could get stuck, he said.
7 The NYPD probes a video of people emerging from a manhole in New York City.ricardyfabre/TikTok
“It’s a tidal wave that comes through every time it rains, and so that is enough to sweep silt, small rocks, anything out,” he told The Post on Friday.
Misguided goldbugs and treasure seekers are far more likely to encounter ᴅᴇᴀᴅly dangers such as low oxygen and “potential explosive atmospheres” because of leaky natural gas lines under the city, Duncan said.
Still, the pipe dream that New York City’s sewers are clogged with treasure inspired underworld explorations long before this year’s moleman extravaganza.
The New York Times reported several times going back to the 1800s about gems, missing pets and Christmas letters being dredged from sewers.
7 New York City Police Emergency Service officers conduct an operation examining a manhole, Friday, May 29, 2026, at Bedord Avenue and Lynch Street in Williamsburg.David Burns/@FD4D for NY Post
In 2015, a part-time Department of Environmental Protection led two friends down a Brooklyn manhole in search of “gold, jewelry and guns” in city sewers.
Last year, three more subterranean sojourners got arrested for trekking underneath Brooklyn.
“The reason we went down there is that people lose their gold down there. We got to sell it to make money,” one of them, Willer Green, told cops at the time.
Sources said the gold-seeking CHUD gang with Reveron and Rodriguez could be a larger crew, potentially with connections to a group who entered a subway access gate near the H๏τel on Monday.
When Reveron was picked up, he was driving without a license and charged separately for that offense, police said. He has an immigration detainer after his arrest.
