News/Commentary

New York coffee shop turns on fellow Democrat

June 23, 2026 | | Print Article

A leftist-owned coffee shop in Brooklyn is facing public scrutiny for banning a Democrat congressman because he supports Israel.

New York Rep. Dan Goldman visited Poetica Coffee’s Brooklyn branch with his young daughter on Sunday, which was the last day for voters to cast early ballots in his tough Democratic primary race against Brad Lander.

Hours later, the coffee chain’s owner published a stunning Instagram post slamming Goldman’s presence at his store:

“Hey Congressman Dan Goldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee,” the owner wrote. “Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference? See, here at Poetica, we don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between.”

“Too bad we didn’t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away. We issued you a refund—we don’t need your money (it’s probably coming from AIPAC anyways). Enjoy your loss on Tuesday. Don’t ever come to Poetica,” the owner added.

In response, Goldman asked that his cashier be tipped.

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“I am sorry to see this post,” he replied on Instagram. “The barista could not have been nicer to my 7-year-old daughter and me — allowing her to use the bathroom even though we had not purchased anything. I made sure to buy a coffee in return for her kindness. I hope you at least make sure she gets the tip that she deserved.”

Meanwhile, Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general overseeing the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, announced on X that she’s looking into what happened:

Lander, who’s staunchly anti-Israel in his views, also responded.

“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,” he said in a statement reported by the New York Times. “I’m glad Poetica took down their post, and I thought Representative Goldman’s reply was extremely gracious.”

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Poetica Coffee has since shuttered its Instagram accounts because of all the backlash that was evidently pouring in.

Speaking with the New York Post, Jewish civil rights attorney Rory Lancman ripped into the coffee shop.

“There’s nothing poetic in Poetica’s flippant use of ‘AIPAC’ as a slur against a Jewish public official, which like ‘Zionist’ or its more noxious shorthand, ‘Zio,’ is nothing more than a coded dog-whistle for ‘Jew,'” he said.

“Poetica may claim to be a place ‘where the guest is sacred, the books are unbanned, and the door is open to everyone,’ but clearly its guests are merely prey for public abuse, its thirst for banning those with opposing opinions is unslakable, and its doors are closed to Jews who think that the Jewish state shouldn’t just lay down and die,” he added.

His remark about the coffee shop being a certain way was a reference to what the shop claims on its website, which is that every guest is “sacred” and deserves to be “treated with unconditional dignity”:

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Unless, of course, they support Israel…

Contacted by the Post on Monday, Poetica Coffee’s staff members seemingly doubled down.

“No comment. We stand against genocide,” a staffer told the Post.

Speaking with CNN late Monday, Goldman spoke a little bit more about what happened.

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“I had such a nice interaction with the barista in the coffee shop,” he said. “She was wearing a hijab. I didn’t know her, but she couldn’t have been nicer and allowed my daughter to go use the bathroom, and I honestly was so grateful for her kindness that I felt like I should buy a coffee, and so I did, and I gave her a large tip.”

Sadly, as a Democrat, he couldn’t resist taking a completely unnecessary swing at Dhillon and the Department of Justice for looking into the matter.

“I would rather they spend their time and resources investigating antisemitism against people who do not have a platform that I do, who are not elected officials, who do not — in some ways — ask for this,” he said. “I mean, I don’t ask for the antisemitism, but I’m a public figure, and I can accept the criticism.”

Vivek Saxena
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