NYC issues vacate orders to stabilize historic Jewish sites following discovery of 60-foot tunnel

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — New York building officials have issued emergency work orders to stabilize buildings around a historic Brooklyn synagogue where a secret tunnel was revealed earlier this week. The city’s investigation into the extent of damage at the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic Jewish movement in Crown Heights found a 60-foot long, 8-foot wide tunnel located underneath several buildings on Eastern Parkway. Community members say the young men in the community dug the tunnel in secret in a misguided attempt to expand the synagogue. When the group’s leaders tried to seal it off Monday, those men staged a protest that turned violent as police moved in to make arrests.