WATCH: Car Ramming at Chabad’s 770 World Headquarters in Crown Heights

A car was deliberately driven into an entrance of 770 Eastern Parkway, the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters, tonight, setting off a significant law enforcement and emergency response and raising renewed concerns about security at the site.

Shmira volunteers and NYPD officers cleared the building as authorities cordoned off the area and treated the location as an active crime scene. Officials have not yet disclosed the identity of the driver involved.

Footage from the scene shows the suspect slamming a vehicle multiple times into the building’s front doors before police detained him. Law enforcement officials said no injuries were reported.

WATCH:

As police activity continued, the NYPD advised the public to expect road closures, traffic slowdowns, and a large emergency presence near Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue, urging motorists to seek alternate routes and plan for delays.

Police said the incident occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m., at a time when the building was filled with bochurim after a video screening and as many others were arriving for farbrengens marking Yud Shevat.

The attack has once again drawn attention to earlier efforts to bolster security around the Chabad headquarters. In July 2018, community activists in Crown Heights called on the city to establish a permanent security installation or pedestrian plaza outside 770 Eastern Parkway. During that period, New York City Public Spaces Director Emily Weidenhof toured the proposed area on July 31, 2018. Those discussions, however, did not result in the creation of a permanent security plaza.

Following tonight’s incident, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the site alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and New York State Attorney General Tish James.

In a statement posted on X, Mayor Mamdani wrote: “I am at 770 Chabad World Headquarters in Crown Heights, where a man intentionally, and repeatedly, crashed his car into the building. I am relieved that no one was injured in this horrifying incident. 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. I stand in solidarity with the Crown Heights Jewish community, and I am grateful to our first responders for taking swift action. I will keep New Yorkers updated as we learn more about the incident.”