Bronx Man Storms Manhattan Synagogue During Shabbat, Faces 14 Hate Crime Charges

A Sacred Space Turned Crime Scene

It all began just after 6 p.m. on Friday, August 14, as a Shabbat service was getting underway inside Central Synagogue, located on Lexington Avenue near East 55th Street in Manhattan. The suspect, later identified as Larry Montes, had entered the synagogue during the service and was sitting quietly for roughly 10 minutes before he suddenly stood up and was confronted by security. What followed sent shockwaves through the congregation and across New York City's Jewish community.

A "disturbed man stormed our bimah," or dais, and "knocked over our Shabbat candles, screamed obscenities and assaulted a congregant," the synagogue said. A live stream of the service captured the panic as the man was seen shouting while a security guard attempted to restrain and remove him from the building. Congregant Susan Roane told reporters she "heard a loud pop" and that those around her "thought it was a gun."

The Attack and Arrest

Officers arrested Larry Montes, 46, of the Bronx, on Friday night and charged him with 14 charges, including six hate crimes, after he allegedly hit a 63-year-old woman and spat upon and headbutted a 65-year-old security guard at Central Synagogue. As security was escorting him out, he struck the 63-year-old female, causing a small laceration and pain to her lip and right forearm.

A police sergeant working as a paid security detail at the synagogue immediately took the man into custody, and no one was seriously injured. Montes has several sealed arrests, some of which were robberies, as well as a history of mental health issues, according to a law enforcement official. Investigators do not have evidence that he was targeting anyone specific inside the synagogue.

The Congregation's Response

The synagogue noted that its cantor and musicians "did not let this stop the music," and that "our rabbis reignited the candles, helped us breathe and found the words to respond to the moment in real time." "We might want to be focusing on the beauty of our liturgy and the sanctity of Shabbat, and somehow the feeling of the imperfect and cruel world keeps flooding in," Rabbi Rebecca Thau told congregants. It was a moment of defiance as much as grief — a community refusing to be defined by an act of hate.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who said Central Synagogue is "where I grew up" and has "always been a place of comfort and peace," declared that "a place of worship should never be a crime scene." New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the act "despicable" and said his administration "will do everything in our power to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe."

A Troubling Pattern in New York City

The attack has left heightened security at Central Synagogue in Midtown East and rattled Jewish New Yorkers. The charges against Montes follow a disturbing pattern of antisemitic incidents this year — in January, swastikas were spray-painted all over a Brooklyn playground, and in late July, a Jewish man was stabbed with a screwdriver on the Upper West Side.

The incident raises urgent questions about the safety of religious spaces in America's largest city. While Montes's alleged history of mental illness complicates any simple narrative, the hate crime charges signal that authorities are treating this as part of a broader and deeply serious threat. As Commissioner Tisch put it, "Every New Yorker must be able to observe their religion without fear of violence." Whether city leaders can turn that principle into a lived reality for Jewish congregants — and worshippers of all faiths — remains the defining challenge ahead.