Chabad’s world headquarters in New York City was repeatedly struck by a vehicle on Wednesday in an apparent ramming attack.
Footage of the incident showed a car driving into one of the building’s entrances several times, knocking a door off its hinges. The driver then exited the vehicle and was detained by police at the scene shortly afterwards. There are no reports of any injuries.
The building, at 770 Eastern Parkway and known informally as “770”, is at the heart of the Chabad neighbourhood of Crown Heights and is one of the most well-known Jewish sites in New York City.
The attack, which took place during a celebration marking the 75th anniversary of the late Chabad rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, forced the evacuation of the building and the closure of the street.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said police stationed at the building heard a commotion around the building’s main entrance and, upon approach, saw a car driving into the entrance repeatedly.
Tisch said it was too early to determine the driver’s motives. A bomb squad swept the vehicle and found no explosives, she said.
Unconfirmed reports from Yeshiva World News suggested the perpetrator of the attack had arrived at a yeshiva in New Jersey earlier in the day, claiming he wanted to convert to Judaism. After not being taken seriously, he became “upset”, prompting his later rampage, the report claimed.
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, as the NYPD confirmed it would be stepping up security at synagogues in the city.
Visiting the scene of the attack, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said it was a “horrifying incident”.
“This is deeply alarming, especially given the deep meaning and the history of this institution to so many in New York and around the world,” Mamdani said. Antisemitism, he said, “has no place in our city and violence or intimidation against Jewish New Yorkers is unacceptable. I stand in solidarity with the Crown Heights Jewish Community.”
Jewish neighbourhood watch group Crown Heights Shomrim reported that the driver had previously been arrested for attempting to enter a Chabad synagogue in New Jersey.
The attack follows a spree of recent antisemitic incidents. On Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday, a rabbi was punched in the face and chest in Queens, and last week, two teenagers were arrested for painting dozens of swastikas on a playground in a Jewish area of Brooklyn.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.