New York lawmaker says it’s ‘sad’ that a cafe banned him over his pro-Israel views

New York Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman has said it is “sad” that a Brooklyn coffee shop banned him over his views on Israel – a move which has put the cafe under investigation by the Trump administration’s justice department.

Goldman represents New York’s 10th congressional district and holds pro-Israel views. He made the “sad” remark to CNN after Brooklyn’s Poetica Coffee banned him in a viral, since-deleted social media post after a visit from him on Sunday.

The cafe later refunded his coffee purchase – but it did not stop assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon of the US justice department’s civil rights division to announce on X that her office was investigating Poetica Coffee.

Goldman has since replied that he would rather Dhillon’s office spent its “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”.

“I mean, I don’t ask for the antisemitism, but I’m a public figure and I can accept the criticism,” Goldman said.

The controversy centering on Goldman brewed after the since-deleted Instagram post from Poetica Coffee showed him looking at his phone while standing at the cashier. “We see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee,” Poetica Coffee 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),” the post continued, referring to the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group.

Referring to a Democratic congressional primary in which Goldman is running against former New York City comptroller Brad Lander, the post continued: “Enjoy your loss on Tuesday. Don’t ever come to Poetica.”

Lander, notably, has been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza, calling it genocide and saying he will not accept funding from Aipac.

While speaking to CNN on Monday, Goldman, a Levi Strauss heir with a reported net worth of approximately $253m, said: “I had such a nice interaction with the barista in the coffee shop. 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.

“It was diametrically opposite to that post that I came upon later … It’s a reflection, I think, of a sad state of affairs that without knowing me, we could have had such a nice interaction.”

Goldman in May attended the Israel Day parade in New York City, which was also attended by the Israeli far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

Smotrich has described himself as a “proud homophobe”, and he has called for the destruction of Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Goldman after the parade said he was “proud” to have attended and to “celebrate the nation and state of Israel”, which he described as “distinct from its government”.

After announcing the investigation into Poetica Coffee, Dhillon said: “Federal law prohibits public accommodations such as coffee shops from discriminating against patrons based on their race, religion, or national origin. These actions are not only reprehensible, they’re potentially illegal.”

Dhillon added that the justice department’s civil rights division “will bring an enforcement action if warranted”.

Meanwhile, on its website, Poetica Coffee described itself as a place “where the guest is sacred, the books are unbanned, and the door is open to everyone”.

“Mehmon, the Uzbek concept of the sacred guest, means that whoever walks through the door is treated with unconditional dignity,” the website said. “Not as a customer. Not as a transaction. As someone who arrived and deserves to be welcomed.”

It added: “In practice, it looks like a café where the door doesn’t close on anyone, where tea gets poured before anyone asks who you are.”