An odd communal disagreement that started with the discovery of a secret underground tunnel and culminated in a confrontation between worshippers and police this week left a historic Brooklyn synagogue, the epicenter of a powerful Hasidic Jewish sect, completely destroyed.
At Crown Heights, a highly respected Jewish landmark that welcomes thousands of visitors annually, including international students and religious leaders, the confrontation broke out at the global headquarters of the Chabad-.
However, police barricades kept the synagogue closed on Tuesday while building safety inspectors from New York City examined whether an unapproved tunnel may have caused structural damage to the renowned edifice.
Young men in the neighborhood recently constructed the passageway to the sanctuary covertly, according to officials and residents.
The passageway is believed to have started in the basement of an empty apartment building behind the headquarters, snaking under a series of offices and lecture halls before eventually connecting to the synagogue, according to Motti Seligson, a spokesperson for Chabad.
Those who supported the tunnel, meanwhile, said they were carrying out an “expansion” plan long envisioned by the former head of the Chabad movement, Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Supporters of the expansion said the basement synagogue had long been overcrowded, prompting a push to annex additional space that some in the community felt was taking too long.
Chabad leaders declined to say when they discovered the underground connection. But several worshippers said word of the tunnel’s existence had spread through the community in recent weeks.
For several hours, police pleaded with the young men to leave the entrance to the tunnel, according to witnesses. After they refused, the officers covered the area with a white curtain and entered the dusty crevasse with zip ties to detain the protesters.
Footage posted to social media shows scores of onlookers, mostly young men, jeering at the NYPD’s community affairs officers. Some lifted wooden desks into the air, sending prayer books scattering. In response, an officer appeared to deploy an irritating spray to disperse the group.
Nine people — between the ages of 19 and 22 — were ultimately arrested on charges that included criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and obstructing governmental administration, according to police.
