Synagogue flagged as high-risk weeks before Brooklyn ramming

Members of the media work near the scene where a car slammed into the entrance of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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CROWN HEIGHTS — CITY OFFICIALS were warned weeks before a car-ramming attack at a Crown Heights synagogue that security bollards and other hardening measures were needed — infrastructure New York City had already begun installing years earlier under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

A Dec. 30, 2025, report from the Mayor’s Office for Combating Antisemitism, issued just before Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office, flagged the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters as a high-risk site and recommended bollards and related protections. The warning came less than a month before a New Jersey man allegedly rammed his car into the building during a religious celebration, leading to hate-crime charges.

The report builds on a de Blasio-era program launched in 2018 in which the city committed $50 million to install more than 1,500 permanent metal bollards citywide following a series of deadly vehicle attacks. While tourist corridors and major landmarks were prioritized, proposed protections for the Crown Heights site stalled.

City Hall says new funding is under discussion, but community leaders argue existing models show the city should move faster.

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