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Five people seen climbing out of Upper East Side manhole, drive off; no arrests

Five people, including at least one woman, were seen emerging from a manhole on East 82nd Street in Manhattan around 2:10 a.m. Friday and drove off. No arrests have been made.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: ABC News
Image: New York Post

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Five people were seen climbing out of a manhole on East 82nd Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side at around 2:10 a.m. on Friday 9 October. Right · 1Witnesses told police that four men and one woman emerged, according to law enforcement sources cited by the New York Post. Mixed · 2They drove off in a black vehicle, described as an SUV by ABC7 and a truck by the Post; ABC7 said it was last seen heading toward East End Avenue.

Mixed · 2No arrests have been made. ABC7 reported that police and the city's Department of Environmental Protection responded and pulled out two shovels and two other tools. Left · 1Last month, Kevin Rodriguez and Samuel Reveron, both 25 and of Queens, were arrested in a similar incident and charged with trespass and conspiracy. Mixed · 2They told detectives they entered the manhole to look for valuables washed into storm drains and sewers. The Post said Rodriguez spoke of looking for gold, while sewer system experts say nothing of monetary value is to be found underground.

Right · 1The Post also said that case was beneath an Upper East Side hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been staying for the UN General Assembly, and that a trio in overalls and headlamps emerged this summer a block from Madison Square Garden.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Brief, factual breaking-news report focused on the sighting, the police response and the earlier arrests.
Emphasis
Location, time, tools recovered, and the charges in last month's case.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the Netanyahu hotel link, the Madison Square Garden sighting, or the claim that nothing of value is in the sewers.
For example
“They pulled out two shovels and two other tools.” — ABC News

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
Presents the sighting as part of a 'bizarre underground spree', with a mystery tone.
Emphasis
Pattern of incidents, the Netanyahu hotel link, and doubts about the gold motive.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the tools recovered, the DEP response or the charges against Rodriguez and Reveron.
Charged language
“mole men”“mysterious sewer divers”“bizarre underground spree”
For example
“The mystery of the mole men continued early Friday morning” — New York Post