A motorist rammed his car at least four times into a side entrance of the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish movement in Brooklyn Wednesday night, according to video of the crash.
The driver was immediately arrested, the police said. There did not appear to be any injuries, Motti Seligson, a spokesman for the movement, said. The police said Wednesday night they were still investigating and had no information on a motive or charges against the driver. The car is registered to Dan Sohail, 36, of Carteret, N.J., an internal police document showed.
The episode unfolded at 8:45 p.m. at the Gothic revival structure at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights. Video taken at the scene shows a gray Honda sedan, with a cargo carrier on the roof and New Jersey plates, at the bottom of a driveway. The car slams into a set of wooden doors, one of which splinters and flies from its hinges. As people look on, yelling “Yo! Yo!” and “No!,” the car backs up and hits the doors again, breaking off another door, and again and again.
As onlookers cautiously approach the car, the driver, a heavyset man with a beard, wearing shorts despite the temperature of 16 degrees, gets out and starts walking up the driveway. He agitatedly explains to a bystander, “It slipped.” Two officers walk up to him and handcuff him behind his back. He does not resist. He appears to spit at the crowd as the officers lead him toward a police vehicle.
By 11 p.m. Mayor Zohran Mamdani was at the scene, posting on X, “This is deeply alarming, especially given the deep meaning and history of the institution to so many in New York and around the world. Any threat to a Jewish institution or place of worship must be taken seriously. Antisemitism has no place in our city, and violence or intimidation against Jewish New Yorkers is unacceptable.”
Rabbi Avi Winner said that thousands of Lubavitchers from around the world had gathered at the building Wednesday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the installation of Rebbe Menachem Schneerson as leader of the movement.
After the incident, young men crowded around the building. Yechi Hamelech, 15, had been inside when he heard the crash. “And we go look and the police said, ‘You got to get out,’” he said.
The sprawling, century-old building is a home base and spiritual nexus of a movement that claims to have more than 5,000 centers in over 100 countries. Replicas have been built in many places, including one in Jerusalem and one near Tel Aviv. The headquarters is a hub of activity day and night, and there were dozens of people nearby when the car crashed.
Chelsia Rose Marcius, Brian Josephs and Sarah Maslin Nir contributed reporting.
Andy Newman writes about New Yorkers facing difficult situations, including homelessness, poverty and mental illness. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.
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