NEW YORK POLICE ARREST TWO OVER MANHOLE EXIT NEAR UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

New York police have arrested two men after three people were seen climbing out of a manhole on Manhattan's Upper East Side, near a hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly due to stay during the UN General Assembly. Officers said the men emerged from the sewer near Park Avenue and East 61st Street at about 4.30am local time (9.30am BST) on Wednesday, then fled north along Park Avenue. Kevin Rodriguez and Samuel Reveron, both from Queens, were charged with conspiracy and trespassing; a third man was not detained. Reports differed on whether the arrests took place on Thursday or Friday.

The New York Police Department said the case matched a pattern of people entering the sewer system to search for valuables and scrap metal washed in after storms. It said extra security sweeps were under way with federal partners due to the sensitivity of the UN General Assembly. Reveron reportedly told police that the group searched the drains for gold and other valuables. At a Friday hearing, the two men pleaded not guilty; both were released without bail, one on his own recognizance and the other under supervised release.

The arrests follow similar incidents reported across New York in recent months, including people seen emerging from manholes near Penn Station in August and a group climbing into a sewer in South Brooklyn in May. Some New Yorkers have nicknamed those involved "mole people". The city's Department of Environmental Protection has said entering the sewer system is illegal and dangerous, citing the risk of toxic gases and flooding. It noted that a woman died earlier this year after falling into an open manhole in Midtown Manhattan.