Velcuz’s trip through Bratislava took a strange detour this week when the streamer ended up at Čumil, Slovakia’s beloved bronze manhole man, only to find out the same spot once hosted Jeffrey Epstein.
Čumil sits in the middle of Bratislava’s Old Town, on the corner of Panská and Laurinská. The statue, made by Slovak artist Viktor Hulík in 1997, shows a smiling worker peeking out of a manhole at passing pedestrians. The name roughly translates to “the watcher” or “the cheeky peeker,” and English travel guides usually call it “Man at Work.” It’s one of the most photographed things in the city.
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During the stream, Velcuz pulled up an older image taken at the exact same statue, showing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein standing next to Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajčák.
Lajčák is no small name in Slovak politics. He served as Slovakia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, was President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 72nd session, and was even considered a candidate for UN Secretary-General back in 2016. The photo’s existence has been discussed before, and there’s no indication of wrongdoing tied to it. It’s just two men standing next to a manhole statue.
Epstein, the American financier convicted as a sex offender, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Any photo of him with a public figure tends to resurface and get a second look, and a goofy Slovak tourist statue is about the last backdrop anyone expects.
