Secret Tunnel Under New York Synagogue Sparks Chaotic Scenes

There were chaotic scenes inside a synagogue in New York City on Monday night as a group of students tried to prevent a secret tunnel from being filled in.

Officers with the New York Police Department were called to the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn on Monday afternoon after "a group of individuals unlawfully entered" the building by damaging a wall, an NYPD spokesperson told Newsweek.

The group was seeking to stop construction crews filling in the tunnel, according to Jewish publication Forward.

Videos that have gone viral on social media show them ripping down wood paneling on a wall in the synagogue, with several men seen sitting or standing in the space behind it in an apparent attempt to stop the tunnel from being sealed off with cement. Other clips show them turning over wooden furniture in the building and clashing with officers.

Several men were led out of the building by police officers, the videos showed.

"At this time, it is known that a number of individuals were taken into custody," the NYPD spokesperson said. "Charges are pending."

No injuries were reported, the spokesperson added.

Newsweek has contacted the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters for comment via email.

Community news outlet CrownHeights.Info. reported on the tunnel's discovery in December. A construction worker discovered it spanned from under the women's section of the synagogue to a mikvah—a Jewish ritual cleansing bath—on the corner of Union Street. Synagogue leadership decided to close off the women's section until a decision could be reached on how to secure the building.

Rabbi Motti Seligson, the media director of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, said "some time ago, a group of extremist students" broke through walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue in order to have "unauthorized access."

"Earlier [Monday], a cement truck was brought in to repair those walls" he said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter.

"Those efforts were disrupted by the extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalizing the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorized access. They have since been arrested and the building closed pending a structural safety review."

Seligson said that Chabad-Lubavitch officials "have attempted to gain proper control of the premises through the New York State court system; unfortunately, despite consistently prevailing in court, the process has dragged on for years.

"This is, obviously, deeply distressing to the Lubavitch movement, and the Jewish community worldwide. We hope and pray to be able to expeditiously restore the sanctity and decorum of this holy place."

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, issued a statement thanking the NYPD for their "professionalism and sensitivity."

"The Chabad-Lubavitch community is pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue below Chabad Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway Monday night," Krinsky said.

"These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored."

Update 12/9/24, 8 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comment from an NYPD spokesperson.