A car crashed into the Chabad-Lubavitch Headquarters in Crown Heights on Wednesday, an incident that is now being investigated as a possible hate crime.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said officers who were assigned to a security detail in front of 770 Eastern Pkwy. heard a commotion around 8:46pm. When they responded, they saw a vehicle strike a rear door, reverse, and then strike the rear door again.
Officers ordered the driver out of the car and placed him under arrest, she said at a news conference. The bomb squad also responded to the scene and found no explosives, she said.
There were many people at the headquarters and the area as members were celebrating the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson being chosen as the leader of the religious group.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was relived that no one was injured in the "horrifying" incident.
"This is deeply alarming, especially given the deep meaning and the history of the institution to so many in New York," he said, adding that violence or intimidation against Jewish New Yorkers was unacceptable.
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, and the NYPD is increasing security around houses of worship across the city, Tisch said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office will be investigating the matter alongside the NYPD.
