A group of Hasidic Jewish worshippers have been arrested after a brawl broke out between police and those trying to defend a secret tunnel in a historic New York City synagogue.

Footage shows a group of people shoving officers, tossing wooden desks and scattering prayer books, with one officer appearing to deploy an irritating spray at the group.

The city launched an emergency structural inspection on Tuesday after the tunnel was discovered at the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Motti Seligson, a spokesman for Chabad, said a “group of extremist students” had secretly broken through the walls of a vacant building behind the headquarters, creating an underground passage beneath a row of office buildings and lecture halls that eventually connected to the synagogue.

The property’s manager brought in a construction crew on Monday to fix the damaged walls, leading to a stand-off with those who wanted the passage to remain.

“Those efforts were disrupted by the extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalising the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorised access,” Mr Seligson said.

A police department spokesperson said officers were called to the building on Monday afternoon to respond to a disorderly group that was trespassing and damaging a wall.

Video shot by witnesses showed police confronting young men standing in a hollowed-out space inside a brick wall.

Police said 10 people were arrested for criminal mischief and criminal trespass and one for obstructing governmental administration.

It was not immediately clear when or why the tunnel was constructed.

New York City Fire Department spokesperson Amanda Farinacci said the agency had received an anonymous tip about the location last month, but when a fire prevention team responded, they found all the exits operable and up to code.

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The building is now closed pending a structural safety review, Ms Seligson said.

“This is, obviously, deeply distressing to the Lubavitch movement, and the Jewish community worldwide,” she said. “We hope and pray to be able to expeditiously restore the sanctity and decorum of this holy place.”

The building, which features a Gothic Revival facade and was once home to the movement’s leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, draws thousands of visitors each year.

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