 "Several arrests made after secret tunnel found beneath New York synagogue")
In a tumultuous event on Monday, a group of men from a Hasidic Jewish community in New York faced arrests amid a clash over an illicit tunnel clandestinely dug into the side of a historic synagogue, subsequently leading to the closure of the revered site.
Law enforcement intervention, triggered by the revelation of the hidden tunnel, escalated into a confrontation between the police and those responsible for the unauthorised passageway who vehemently sought its preservation.
The Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters, situated in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, witnessed pandemonium on Tuesday as Jewish leaders and police confronted what Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesperson for the Chabad, described as a “group of extremist students.”
The edifice, once the residence of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the Orthodox Jewish movement for over four decades until his demise in 1994, attracts thousands of annual visitors. Rabbi Schneerson played a pivotal role in revitalizing a Hasidic religious community devastated by the Holocaust.
According to Seligson, the rebellious students surreptitiously breached the walls of a vacant building behind the headquarters, constructing an underground passage beneath office buildings and lecture halls, ultimately connecting to the synagogue.
Efforts to repair the damaged walls on Monday were met with opposition from the tunnel creators, resulting in disruptions and vandalism within the sanctuary. The motive behind the tunnel’s construction remains undisclosed.
Upon responding to reports of a disorderly group trespassing and damaging a wall, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested those allegedly responsible for the tunnel on charges of criminal mischief, criminal trespass, and obstructing governmental administration.
City inspectors conducted an emergency structural inspection, during which police officers cordoned off the headquarters, preventing entry attempts by a group of young men. An anonymous tip about the tunnel’s location was reported to the New York City Fire Department last month, but subsequent inspections found all exits to be operable and compliant with codes, according to Amanda Farinacci, an agency spokesperson.
The NYPD has declared the building closed pending a structural safety review by city inspectors.
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