Man Arrested After East Side Synagogue Attack, Police Say

MIDTOWN EAST, NY — A man has been arrested and charged with disrupting a Shabbat service at Central Synagogue and assaulting a congregant and security guard, New York City Police Department officials said.

According to the NYPD, 46-year-old Larry Montes burst into the service on Friday evening at the Reform congregation on Lexington Avenue and East 55th Street.

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Montes punched a 63-year-old woman and headbutted a 65-year-old security official while being escorted out, police said. The man also damaged a $20,000 candle holder, police said.

Because the service was livestreamed, a clip of the attack was circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The charges filed accuse Montes of a hate crime assault, criminal mischief as a hate crime, aggravated harassment, and disruption of a religious service.

"I can only imagine the pain and fear an attack like this, during Shabbat services, causes for the congregation and for Jewish New Yorkers across our city," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X.

"This despicable act has no place in our city, and our administration will do everything in our power to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe."

He will appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on Aug. 20.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.