A car crashed into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in New York City on Wednesday evening, causing damage to the doors of the deeply venerated Hasidic Jewish venue.
No injuries were reported and the driver was taken into custody by police, Chabad Lubavitch spokesperson Motti Seligson said.
“These are the facts we know at this time and we hope to have clarity very soon,” Seligson said.
Online video showed a vehicle with New Jersey license plates repeatedly driving backwards and forwards into an icy driveway, striking the basement-level doors at least four times.
The driver, wearing shorts, got out of the car and told onlookers that he had slipped.
The driver allegedly told officers he was trying to park.
Chabad Lubavitch’s international headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, receives thousands of visitors every year. The neo-Gothic facade is recognizable to followers of the Chabad movement and has inspired dozens of replicas around the world.
The headquarters, commonly referred to as 770, a nod to the address of the complex’s original building, now encompasses several adjacent buildings.
The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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