{"id":118705,"date":"2026-01-31T23:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/118705\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T23:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:28:08","slug":"mamdani-was-warned-to-install-security-bollards-at-vulnerable-houses-of-worship-nearly-a-month-before-driver-rammed-brooklyn-synagogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/118705\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani was warned to install security bollards at ‘vulnerable’ houses of worship nearly a month before driver rammed Brooklyn synagogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mamdani administration was warned to install bollards and take other security measures at houses of worship nearly a month before maniac Dan Sohail <\/a>allegedly rammed his car into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

Moshe David, executive director of the Mayor\u2019s Office for Combating\u00a0Antisemitism, issued a Dec. 30 report<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>two days before Mamdani was sworn in as mayor \u2014 offering recommendations for 2026 on how to combat future antisemitic attacks, including adding bollards and other security features at \u201cvulnerable\u201d houses of worship.<\/p>\n

The Hasidic Jewish group\u2019s Eastern Parkway building in Crown Heights \u2013 where Sohail, 36, of New Jersey, was arrested on hate-crime charges Wednesday after being caught on video driving into a set of doors five times<\/a> during a holy celebration\u00a0\u2013 is one of the site\u2019s city officials deemed high-risk and recommended for bollards, according to a source briefed on the matter who declined to name the other locations for security reasons.<\/p>\n

\"DanDan Sohail, 36, appears in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Schermerhorn Street, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, after authorities said he repeatedly rammed a car into the entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights. Kevin C Downs for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Former Mayor Eric Adams created MOCA in May, and under him, it partnered with the Department of Transportation and\u00a0NYPD\u2019s Counterterrorism Threats Reduction Infrastructure Protection Section (TRIPS) unit last year to \u201cstreamline the permit process for security bollards at houses of worship\u201d and reduce any \u201cbureaucratic delays,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2026 expansion proposes establishing a dedicated city budget line for bollard installation and other hardening measures at vulnerable institutions,\u201d the report adds. \u201cThis mirrors previous successful iterations of such funding before resources were exhausted.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, the city under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to spend $50 million installing 1,500-plus protective metal bollards<\/a> to thwart terrorist-ramming attacks, primarily in tourist hotspots like Times Square, bustling business corridors and near iconic sites like St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral. <\/p>\n

The move came following a series of terror attacks, including one where eight people were mowed down <\/a>and killed along a West Side Highway bike path by a truck-driving madman. <\/p>\n

At the time, some Crown Heights community leaders proposed building a pedestrian plaza in front of the iconic synagogue that included bollards and planters as deterrents, but the proposal never made it across the finish line with City Hall.<\/p>\n

\"APolice tape marks the scene where a car slammed into the entrance of the headquarters of a Jewish religious order, the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, U.S., January 28, 2026. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have helped prevent what happened, I hope, now, there\u2019s renewed interest in the project,\u201d said Crown Heights Jewish Community Council Director of Outreach Rabbi Eli Cohen, who spearheaded the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t really get the whole community on board with the idea. The plaza could have been open to any kind of event, like yoga, in front of the shul,\u201d said another Crown Heights familiar with the proposal.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how much money the city plans to allocate for security infrastructure at houses of worship as budget discussions are ongoing, but it will take at least a few months to begin installation, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Mamdani knows that the safety of our neighbors and our houses of worship is non-negotiable,\u201d said his spokesman Sam Raskin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mamdani administration will take every necessary step to ensure synagogues \u2014 and all religious institutions and houses of worship \u2014 are safe, secure, and free from fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a source familiar with the project said the city shouldn\u2019t wait for another car-ramming incident with a more deadly outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is such a priority, why not press play now,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe community wants more security.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mamdani administration was warned to install bollards and take other security measures at houses of worship nearly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3862,98,100,99,254,102,81,50114,10685,57,9,24,63,87,9500,58,82],"class_list":["post-118705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-antisemitism","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-car-crashes","tag-crown-heights","tag-eric-adams","tag-hasidic-judaism","tag-hate-crimes","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-politics","tag-synagogues","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}