In New York, police opened an underground Hasidic tunnel

On January 8, 2024, a tunnel was discovered under the world headquarters of the Hasidic movement Chabad-Lubavitch in New York, which was secretly built to the main synagogue of the community.

After the builders, who arrived by order of the municipal authorities, tried to fill the tunnels with cement, local Chabad members resisted them. Upon the arrival of the police, a fight broke out between the Hasidim and law enforcement officers. As a result, security forces detained 10 people.

В Нью-Йорке силовики вскрыли подземный тоннель хасидов pic.twitter.com/RQ0QbkKiRz

— Athens News (@russianathens) January 10, 2024

Published footage shows Hasidim defending themselves from police by overturning tables and other synagogue furniture.

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В Нью-Йорке силовики вскрыли подземный тоннель хасидов pic.twitter.com/CIk1NL6Flh

— Athens News (@russianathens) January 10, 2024

According to media reports, the tunnels were dug to expand the headquarters area. The desired expansion is part of a conflict that has lasted at least 30 years. “The expansion is a step that the leader of the Lubavitcher movement, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, called for,” one movement member told the NYT.

The tunnels were discovered after local residents began to hear people’s voices coming from under the floor. Back in December 2023, New Yorker Richard Strocher posted a message on X in which he said that he could hear conversations in Yiddish under his floor.

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