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In recent days, a strange question has drawn the attention of New Yorkers and local tabloids: Who enters and exits in sand wells across cities and what do they do in the sewer system?

On 5 May, surveillance footage showed three people wearing tight-tight waterpants entering a sand well in Queens. Then, in the early hours of 29 May, another camera caught a crowd coming out of a sand well in Brooklyn. On the same day, another group appeared from another sand well in Brooklyn, a few miles from the first location. Some wear headlamps and others carry things that appear to be shovels and flashlights.

The NYPD speculated that the men were scavengers, looking for jewellery, firearms or other valuables. However, no one knew exactly, so Connect consulted with several content creators active in cities in New York City. On platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, “urbex” creators (usually teenage boys or young people who are filmed in small groups) explore abandoned or inaccessible spaces, such as abandoned factories, dilapidated mansions and underground tunnels.

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The creators interviewed by Connect indicated that they did not recognize anyone in the video section. In general, they do not claim that the so-called sewer robbers are their own.

One of the creators said that there was nothing of value below, except “deep water and needles”. “The sewers are very risky because the mobile phone services there are essentially zero.” (As such exploration is illegal, the creator requires anonymity.

When The Connected magazine asked whether sewer workers could be part of the urbex community, another author said, "No one is working on the sewers." “It's a very old system that is not well known." The creators said that the men in the video were “too seasoned” and pointed out that some had changed their clothes when they appeared.

Another author claimed that the city's subway tunnels and abandoned stations were better locations to film, noting that people could shoot trains and “renowned graffiti” at close range.

In 2010, The New York Times, led by a guided tour, visited the underground of New York City, including a partial sewerage system with access points at Van Cortland Park and Kisena Park, Queens. The article describes “a condom and a sticky piece of toilet paper” floating in “coffee dark”, but there is no outstanding graffiti.

Another author suggested that the attraction to access sand wells might be to find the potential for abandoned tram tracks. They claim that they know “some people enter sewer sand wells just to explore incentives”, but add that it was “a long time ago” and that “no one in the urbex scene today really knows what sand wells are to open into the tram line”.

“As far as I'm concerned, it seems suspicious that many people enter the different sewers in New York City.” The creators said. "This may not be just an exploration."

Both the New York Police Department and the New York City Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the sewage system, told the magazine Connect that they had investigated the location of the sewage system as shown in the surveillance video and that the situation would not pose a threat to public safety. (DEP also stresses that such activities “are illegal and extremely dangerous”.

Wireline could not find any recent urbex content showing the sewage system in New York City. The most common content types are subway tunnels, abandoned subway stations and non-public roofs of the Manhattan skyscrapers.

However, some creators did not rule out the possibility that the sandy moles were part of it.

“I naturally think it was for the purpose of content,” one said.

"My mom showed me the video and said, "It's not you, right?" They added. “I told her no, to be honest, had not entered the sewage system. She said, "Oh, okay, just make sure."

They stated that they did understand the content of “some people who have explored sewage systems” and that the idea of exploring sewage systems is not new.

"We explore almost anything we can get into, whether it's protected or not," they say. “With confidence, most people go home with new pictures/videos and stories.”