[1] Both Jews and non-Jews visit The Ohel for prayer, and approximately 50,000 people make an annual pilgrimage there on the anniversary of Schneerson's death.

[2] The Ohel is situated at the northern edge of the cemetery, near the corner of Francis Lewis Boulevard and 121st Avenue, in a section designated for prominent Lubavitcher men and their wives.

[2] It is also frequented by travelers going to or returning from nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport or 770 Eastern Parkway, the headquarters of Chabad in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

[10] The presence of large numbers of pilgrims, nighttime visitations, and the build-up of Chabad homes and facilities in the area has resulted in tension with the surrounding African-American community in the decades since Menachem Schneerson's death.

[11][12] At the Ohel, visitors have a tradition of writing kvitlach – prayers on small pieces of paper – which are then torn up and tossed onto the graves.

[16] At the Ohel itself, the graves are enclosed by 4 walls, but with an open roof to eliminate problems of tumas meis ("impurity from the dead"; see Tumah and taharah) in an enclosure, and a low wall surrounds the graves and keeps the kohen at least 12.59 inches (320 mm) away from a tombstone to maintain his ritual purity.