BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A 22-year-old man was taken into custody Monday evening after allegedly slashing a 14-year-old fellow congregant inside a synagogue in Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood, police said, with charges pending as investigators work to determine what sparked the attack.
The incident drew attention both locally and nationally because it unfolded inside a house of worship in one of New York City’s most prominent Orthodox Jewish communities. However, the New York Police Department moved quickly to clarify that detectives are not treating the case as a hate crime. A community security organization confirmed that both the alleged attacker and the teenage victim are members of the local Jewish community, and that the suspect has a history of mental health challenges. As of Monday night, no formal charges had been filed, and investigators had not publicly identified either the suspect or the victim.
Officers responded to a 911 call at approximately 7:20 p.m. Monday reporting an emotionally disturbed person inside a synagogue located at 1675 54th St., near 17th Avenue in Borough Park, according to the NYPD. When officers arrived, they found the 14-year-old boy with a hand injury and the 22-year-old suspect still inside the building. According to police, the suspect allegedly used some type of cutting instrument — later recovered at the scene and described by the New York Daily News as a knife — to slash the teenager in the hand during an altercation that broke out inside the synagogue. Officers took the suspect into custody without incident. The teen declined medical attention at the scene, and police described his injury as minor. Hatzalah, the volunteer emergency medical service that serves Orthodox Jewish communities, also responded and provided initial treatment to the boy before he declined further care or hospital transport.
Police confirmed that both the suspect and the victim were congregants at the same synagogue. The NYPD said formal charges were pending as of Monday evening, and the investigation remained active. The community security organization CSI New York, which monitors safety incidents affecting the Jewish community, issued a public statement saying it had confirmed the attacker is a member of the local Jewish community who has documented mental health challenges. “It is NOT an antisemitic incident,” CSI New York wrote in its statement. Multiple law enforcement and community sources described the suspect as a man who is well known in Borough Park and who regularly frequents houses of worship in the neighborhood. Israel National News reported that the suspect is known to local residents as someone who frequently stays in synagogues in the area, and that he was arrested at the scene without resistance. What specifically triggered the confrontation between the suspect and the teenage boy has not been disclosed by police, and investigators had not publicly stated a motive as of Monday night.
The Borough Park slashing comes against the backdrop of heightened concern about safety at New York City synagogues. Just weeks before Monday’s incident, Larry Montes, 46, was arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court on a hate crime indictment stemming from an August attack at Central Synagogue on East 55th Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown. According to court documents, Montes entered the synagogue during Shabbat services on Aug. 14, rushed toward the rabbi while claiming to be “God,” and knocked over and broke ceremonial candleholders, causing an estimated $7,000 in damage. Prosecutors allege Montes then charged up the center aisle while shouting antisemitic slurs, struck a 63-year-old woman in the face — knocking her to the ground and causing lacerations to her lip and arm — and headbutted and spat on a 65-year-old Black security guard who attempted to remove him. Montes pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said Montes, who has a prior criminal history including an alleged assault on a CVS employee, admitted to the crime and described it as religiously motivated, stating he harbored strong animus toward Jewish and Black people. That case remains before the court.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed the Central Synagogue attack following Montes’s arraignment, emphasizing the department’s commitment to protecting religious communities. “Our synagogues should be sacred spaces where New Yorkers can worship safely, but Larry Montes violated that sanctity when he disrupted a service at Central Synagogue and assaulted a congregant, as outlined in the indictment,” Tisch said. “The NYPD will continue to stand with our Jewish communities and use the full force of this department to investigate hate crimes of any kind.” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is prosecuting the Montes case, drew a broader line around the significance of such incidents. “Places of worship should be safe havens, not scenes of violence and hate,” Bragg said. “An attack on a house of worship threatens an entire community’s sense of safety, and the sanctity of these community pillars must be protected.” Those statements, made in the context of the separate Midtown case, nonetheless reflect the concern animating city officials and Jewish community leaders as incidents at houses of worship continue to draw scrutiny heading into the Jewish High Holiday season. New York state officials separately announced increased security measures ahead of the holidays.
In Borough Park on Monday night, the mood among community members was one of unease, according to local accounts. Borough Park is a densely populated Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in central Brooklyn, home to dozens of synagogues and one of the largest Hasidic Jewish communities in the United States. The synagogue on 54th Street sits in the heart of that community. Community sources and local security organizations said they are cooperating with police as the investigation continues. The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force was not activated in connection with the Borough Park slashing, consistent with the department’s characterization that the case does not meet the threshold of a bias-motivated incident. Formal charges against the 22-year-old suspect were still pending as of late Monday, and investigators had not indicated a timeline for when charges would be filed or announced.
As of Monday night, the 22-year-old suspect remained in police custody and no charges had been formally announced. The NYPD is expected to provide an update on the case as the investigation progresses, with the question of what charges the suspect will face — and whether prosecutors will weigh his reported mental health history — likely to be resolved in the coming days.
