New York — It wasn’t mice. Or smells. Or germs.
No, the most annoying part of descending into New York City’s vast sewer system, according to former urban explorer Steve Duncan, were the cockroaches.
“They’re everywhere, crawling up the walls, falling on you,” Duncan recalled this week. “They were the worst.”
Duncan, 48, who now lives in Maryland, reflects on the years he spent documenting the mud-filled tunnels running under New York after… Surveillance videos Small groups of people have been captured mysteriously entering and exiting the sewer system in Brooklyn and Queens in recent days.
Police say they are still investigating the three incidents but do not believe there is any threat to the public. Officials stress that entering the city is illegal and dangerous 7400 miles (12,000 km) of sewer pipes.
Duncan believes the groups were likely explorers like himself, crossing the large 19th-century sewer pipes that run under parts of the city.
These relatively cavernous spaces can exceed 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter — long enough for most people to walk comfortably upright — and can feature handcrafted brickwork and elegant arches, he said.
A number of them, including one near where one of the groups was spotted, trace the paths of natural waterways that once supported New York, before industrialization spoiled them and forced the city’s builders to turn them into sewers, Duncan said.
“These ancient streams, they are being put underground as cities grow around them,” he explained. “It is amazing how much this ancient natural environment has become part of the city today.”
Videos indicate that some groups spent up to three hours underground, a period of time that may seem unimaginable, but Duncan said it goes by quickly as sanitation excursions require navigating slippery, wet environments and flowing water that can be a foot (30 cm) deep or deeper in some places.
Duncan credits the groups with choosing the optimal time for their trips.
Heavy rain days earlier would have mostly cleared the system, and venturing into the tunnels in the early morning hours meant the flow of waste would be significantly lower than during peak daytime hours.
“They did their research,” Duncan said.
But he said unseen dangers lurked in these germ-rich environments, and recounted how he arrived at hospital with severely infected limbs on two separate occasions, eventually prompting his retirement.
Experienced explorers will generally bring gas meters to check for dangerous levels of fumes, including flammable hydrogen sulfide, which is produced by decomposition, Duncan said.
As for the smell of all that effluent, it’s not as overpowering as you might think, Duncan said.
“If the sewer is working well, it’s like the smell of a yard, or the smell of a compost pile,” he said. “But when it’s bad, it can smell like death.”
Some residents expressed concern that the mysterious explorers caught on video were up to something nefarious. Many were wearing waterproof clothing and equipped with headlamps and what appeared to be shovels and other tools.
“Sewers can serve as entry or exit points to buildings, and we’ve all seen movies in which criminals escape from prison through sewers,” says Majid Iskandar, an engineering professor at New York University. “There must be a reason beyond the mere thrill of entering a dirty place like a sewer.”
Others pointed out that the police arrested underground treasure hunters from time to time.
Just last year three men were charged with burglary and other charges after they went searching for gold, jewelry and other valuables in Brooklyn sewers. A decade ago, the police arrested three others I came out of the pitAmong them was a worker with the city’s Environmental Protection Department, which manages the sewer system.
David Sarney, a retired New York Police Department detective and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, said the viral videos underscore how vulnerable some of the city’s critical infrastructure is.
“Is this something that could be exploited by people looking to do harm?” He said. “You should never take anything for granted and, unfortunately, always think about that downside.”
Duncan, who now works in real estate, said neither wealth nor spite motivated him and many of his generation of urban explorers.
On his trips to underground passages in New York, London, Paris and elsewhere during the early 2000s, he rarely found anything of value, except the odd credit card or tattered wallet.
“These are terrifying places that require a lot of planning and dedication to exploring safety,” Duncan said. “You don’t do all these things for the slim chance of finding a diamond earring.”
He continued: “The real reason is to see something new, or to experience the city in a different way.” “That’s the real temptation.”
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Associated Press video journalist Joseph Frederick in New York contributed to this story.
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Follow Philippe Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo