Poetica Coffee Cancels Dan Goldman Order, Calls Him Genocide Enabler in Brooklyn

A Brooklyn coffee house, Poetica Coffee, targeted pro-Israel Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) by canceling his transaction and returning his money after he stopped by the Park Slope establishment with his 7-year-old daughter.

“The incident of Boyetica Coffee in New York refusing to serve Democratic Jewish congressman Dan Goldman last Monday over his pro-Israel stance became a spark for a broad electoral and media campaign, exposing deep divisions within the American political scene, particularly in New York, about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”

Al-Jazeera Net

The shop’s Facebook caption said, “Hey Congressman Dan Goldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee,” and it added that the business would not accommodate “genocide enablers.”

Al-Jazeera Net

Goldman said he visited because his daughter wanted to use the washroom and he bought a coffee in return for the barista’s courtesy, telling CNN, “The barista could not have been nicer to my 7-year-old daughter and me.”

The incident unfolded during Goldman’s competitive Democratic primary race against former city Comptroller Brad Lander, with the New York Democratic primary described as taking place on Tuesday.

The backlash drew in the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division after Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the department opened an investigation into Poetica Coffee Shop in Brooklyn.

Dhillon warned, “Federal law prohibits public accommodations such as coffee shops from discriminating against patrons based on their race, religion, or national origin,” and said enforcement action was possible.

Fox News

Goldman’s opponent Brad Lander defended him, saying, “There are plenty of ways to lobby elected officials and express outrage at the votes they’ve taken without turning coffee shops into places people don’t feel welcome.”

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York’s Mark Treyger condemned the shop’s action as antisemitic, arguing, “Turning a cup of coffee into a Jewish identity litmus test is an affront to the law, our values, and every New Yorker who rejects discrimination.”

The dispute became part of the broader electoral fight in New York’s 10th Congressional District, where Goldman and Lander were competing and where the mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed Lander.

“A Brooklyn coffee house has targeted pro-Israel Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) by canceling his recent transaction, returning his money, and declaring that the business refuses to accommodate "genocide enablers", reports The New York Post”

Israel National News

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency said Poetica’s post prompted “a swift backlash from Jewish leaders” and an “avalanche of negative reviews on Yelp,” before the coffee shop’s Instagram account was deactivated.

Al Jazeera Net described the incident as occurring “ahead of the Democratic primary in New York's 10th district,” and said the context turned it into “a battlefield between opposing currents” with political and legal dimensions.

In the same reporting, Dhillon’s DOJ intervention was framed as a response to a message that the cafe did not serve “contributors to enabling genocide,” while the Justice Department position centered on whether the denial of service taunts violated federal anti-discrimination law.