NEW YORK (TNND) — A vehicle being repeatedly rammed into a New York synagogue on Wednesday night as people gathered for prayer is being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Tisch said at a news conference that a man has been arrested after crashing his car into a door of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, reversing and striking it several more times.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the crash "intentional" and "deeply alarming," especially given the deep meaning and the history of the institution to so many in New York and around the world."

According to Tisch, the bomb squad cleared the vehicle of explosives, and there were no reported injuries. Security was also increased around houses of worship in all five boroughs.

The liaison for Chabad Headquarters, Yaacov Behrman, shared video and photos on X of the vehicle driving into the doors, saying witnesses reported the driver yelled for people to move as he drove in.

"It appears intentional," he said, adding the person arrested had previously trespassed at a Chabad house in New Jersey.

The Chabad Lubavitch headquarters and synagogue in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood receives thousands of visitors annually. Its Gothic Revival facade is very recognizable to adherents of the Chabad movement and has inspired dozens of replicas across the world.

Commonly referred to as 770, a nod to the Eastern Parkway address of the complex’s original building, the headquarters encompasses multiple adjacent structures.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez responded to the crash on social media, calling it "disturbing and unacceptable."

"This could have been much worse and I’m grateful that no one was hurt," he wrote on X. "My office is working closely with the NYPD to ensure justice is done and the community is safe."

The incident happened on the 75th anniversary of the date that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson became the leader of the Lubavitch movement. Schneerson died in 1994 but remains a revered figure globally.

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Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.