Brooklyn synagogue shuts down after 'extremist' Jewish teens 'hired migrants' to dig tunnel beneath property

Jewish teens in the Brooklyn Chabad synagogue tunnels controversy had reportedly "hired migrants" to dig the tunnel. The synagogue has been forced to shut down as a result.  

Students at the Orthodox Hasidic synagogue reportedly hired migrant workers to help build the tunnel that were discovered earlier this week, according to the New York Post. 

Eitan Kalmowitz, told the outlet, “You’ve seen the movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption’? That’s what these young men did at first: They dug and put the dirt in their pockets." 

Kalmowitz, a member of the Lubavitcher community in Crown Heights, went on to describe the workers that the teens hired as "Mexicans."

“The Mexicans lived in the building for three weeks during the work,” he told the outlet. “They slept and ate there because it was a secret operation.” 

Building officials left a "vacate" order on the door of the synagogue for safety concerns about the structure of the building and issued a statement, saying, “As a result of this extensive investigation, we have issued emergency work orders to stabilize the buildings above the tunnel, vacate orders in parts of the buildings to ensure occupant safety and enforcement actions against the property owners for the illegal work." 

“We will continue to monitor the progress of this emergency stabilization work, and if necessary, we are ready to take additional actions that may be required in the interest of public safety," the statement continued.  

Apparent plans to expand the building's space had been slow, so the young men took matters into their own hands and started digging the tunnels, according to sources who spoke to the Post.

Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch, said in a statement that "Some time ago, a group of extremist students broke through a few walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue at 784-788 Eastern Parkway to provide them unauthorized access

Two violations have come down from government officials to the building owners for the unpermitted project. Nine men ranging in age from 19 to 21 were arrested for criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection to the tunnels.