Nearly a month before a driver repeatedly slammed his car into the entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights, senior city officials were alerted that the site faced elevated risk and should be fortified with physical barriers, the New York Post revealed.

A Dec. 30 report authored by Moshe Davis, executive director of the Mayor’s Office for Combating Antisemitism, urged the incoming administration of Zohran Mamdani to expand the installation of bollards and other “hardening” measures at vulnerable religious institutions. Two days later, Mamdani was sworn in. Four weeks after that, a New Jersey man rammed his vehicle into 770’s doors five times.

The Eastern Parkway headquarters was among the high-risk sites flagged for protective barriers, the Post reports. The full list has not been disclosed for security reasons.

The suspect, Dan Sohail, 36, was arrested and charged with hate crimes. No one was injured.

The report, completed in the final days of the previous administration, laid out a blueprint for 2026 that included streamlining permits, allocating a dedicated budget line for bollards, and accelerating coordination among City Hall, the Department of Transportation and the NYPD’s counterterrorism infrastructure unit.

That approach built on groundwork laid under Eric Adams, who created the antisemitism office and partnered agencies last year to cut red tape around protective installations. The report argued that earlier funding rounds had been effective but exhausted, leaving high-risk sites exposed as threats evolved.

City officials say budget talks are ongoing and that even with funding, installation would take months.

The city has been here before. After a series of vehicle-ramming attacks nationwide, New York under Bill de Blasio committed $50 million in 2018 to install more than 1,500 bollards, largely in tourist corridors like Times Square and near city landmarks.

Crown Heights leaders pushed for similar protections years ago. One proposal envisioned a pedestrian plaza in front of 770, with planters and bollards doubling as security features. It never cleared City Hall.

The episode has put immediate pressure on Mamdani, who took office pledging to confront antisemitism as attacks on Jewish institutions rise nationwide. His office says security upgrades are a priority.

“Mayor Mamdani knows that the safety of our neighbors and our houses of worship is non-negotiable,” spokesperson Sam Raskin said. “The administration will take every necessary step to ensure synagogues — and all religious institutions — are safe, secure, and free from fear.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)