The house, in
Collegiate Gothic Revival style, was built in 1920, designed by Edwin Kline, and originally served as a medical office. In 1940, with the assistance of
Jacob Rutstein and his son Nathan Rothstein, the building was purchased by
Agudas Chasidei Chabad on behalf of the Chabad Lubavitch movement and as a home for Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn when he arrived in the United States in 1940. Because Rabbi Schneersohn used a wheelchair, a building with an elevator needed to be purchased for his use as both a home and as a
synagogue. The building, which soon became known as 770, became the hub and central location for Chabad during the 1940s. It served as the main Chabad synagogue, a yeshiva, and offices for the
Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn lived in an apartment on the second floor. Yosef Yitzchok's wife remained resident in her apartment on the second floor until her death. Her two daughters would often visit her in her apartment, and during her lifetime the new
Rebbe would conduct semi-private meals there for the family and selected visitors on festive occasions. Today, the previous Rebbe's apartment and office are closed to the public. Since 1994, Rabbi Menachem Mendel's office on the first floor is used on
Shabbat and
Jewish holidays as an additional prayer room open to the public during prayer times. From its inception the synagogue has served three parallel purposes. It is a place of daily prayer services, a study hall for advanced students, and an assembly hall for Chabad gatherings, known as
Farbrengens. Here the Lubavitcher Rebbe or elder
Chassidim would address Chassidim and other visitors about
Torah observance and
Chassidic philosophy and practice. As the Lubavitch movement grew in the United States, the original synagogue became too small to house the chasidim and students who came to pray and study there. The synagogue was expanded in several stages. The first annex was added in 1960, with subsequent expansions taking place in the late 1960s and again in the mid-1970s. The synagogue then reached its current size. The original synagogue remains as a small study hall used by rabbinical students during the week. In 1988, Rabbi Schneerson laid the cornerstone for an ongoing renovation project. In 1991, the neighborhood around the Chabad headquarters was the site of the
Crown Heights riot between Orthodox Jewish residents and African American residents. Black residents outraged by a boy's death in a crash involving the motorcade of Rebbe
Menachem Mendel Schneerson attacked Jews, homes and businesses for three days. On December 9, 2014, an individual with a documented history of mental health issues entered a synagogue and assaulted a student with a knife. Another student present reported that the assailant yelled threats during the incident. A police officer at the scene engaged with the assailant in an effort to detain him. The confrontation resulted in the officer fatally shooting the assailant.
Visiting dignitaries 770 has attracted visits from a wide range of prominent figures, including political leaders, diplomats, and heads of state. During Schneerson's lifetime, many came to seek his counsel or pay their respects, among them
Robert F. Kennedy, Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin and future prime ministers
Yitzhak Rabin, and
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President
Zalman Shazar and future Israeli President
Shimon Peres, as well as New York City mayors
John Lindsay,
Ed Koch,
David Dinkins, and future Mayor
Rudy Giuliani. Since his death, visits have continued from dignitaries such as Mayor
Bill de Blasio, Mayor
Eric Adams, Israeli ministers
Yoav Gallant and
Nir Barkat, and Argentinian President
Javier Milei. In 2025, Israeli far-right Minister
Itamar Ben-Gvir visited 770,
drawing protests in response to his racist anti-Arab views and fierce opposition to a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Tunnel incident In December 2023, an unauthorized underground digging was discovered connecting the main synagogue to a nearby unused
mikveh.
The New York Times reported that the tunnel was part of an attempted expansion of 770. When workers tried to fill the tunnel on January 8, 2024,
clashes broke out between Chabad messianists, who tried to prevent the tunnel from being filled, and the
New York City Police Department (NYPD). and the building was temporarily closed pending a structural safety review. Footage of the January 8 incident and tunnel went viral on social media.
Car ramming attack On the evening of January 28, 2026, a
car repeatedly drove into an entrance of the building causing damage to the building. The driver was arrested by police, and the building was evacuated. The suspect was charged with attempted assault with a hate crime enhancement and other crimes. Police said the suspect had been to the synagogue and other synagogues before. The attack happened during a Chabad holiday, with thousands of people attending the event.
Ownership dispute The ownership dispute, formally known as
Agudas Chasidei Chabad v. Congregation Lubavitch is a decades-long legal conflict over control of the main synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway commonly referred to as
the (large) Zal (Hebrew: הזאל) or the
main shul. The dispute concerns the primary synagogue space located beneath 784 and 788 Eastern Parkway. The parties are
Agudas Chasidei Chabad the central organization representing the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, and
Congregation Lubavitch, a body composed of the synagogue's
Gabboim, who oversee its day-to-day operations. In January 2024, a
New York appellate court ruled that
Agudas Chasidei Chabad retains control over the broader 770 Eastern Parkway properties, but reversed a lower court ruling regarding the synagogue itself, holding that
Congregation Lubavitch could not be evicted from the main sanctuary. In June 2024, a subsequent appeal was denied, leaving the appellate court's ruling in place. == Livestream ==