{"id":208,"date":"2026-06-23T15:08:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanhousingtransition.com\/?p=208"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:08:41","slug":"doj-opens-investigation-into-brooklyn-cafe-that-banned-pro-israel-congressman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanhousingtransition.com\/?p=208","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Opens Investigation into Brooklyn Caf\u00e9 That Banned Pro-Israel Congressman"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New York City coffee chain made clear in a Monday social-media post that Representative Dan Goldman was not welcome due to his moderately pro-Israel views and refunded the Democratic lawmaker for a coffee he had bought the day before.<\/p>\n

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The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division opened an investigation into Poetica Coffee in response to the hostile Instagram post targeting Goldman, who had visited the chain\u2019s Lorimer Street location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Sunday with his seven-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee, here at Poetica, we don\u2019t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between,\u201d the caf\u00e9 wrote. \u201cToo bad we didn\u2019t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post warned Goldman never to come back and refunded his $9.82 coffee, claiming that \u201cit\u2019s probably coming from AIPAC anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice took immediate action.<\/p>\n

\u201cFederal law prohibits public accommodations such as coffee shops from discriminating against patrons based on their race, religion, or national origin,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon on X. \u201cThese actions are not only reprehensible, they\u2019re potentially illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldman, who said he stopped in the coffee shop so his daughter could use the bathroom, said the experience was \u201cquite surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had such a nice interaction with the barista in the coffee shop,\u201d Goldman said in an interview on CNN. \u201cShe couldn\u2019t have been nicer and allowed by daughter to go use the bathroom and I honestly was so grateful for her kindness that I felt like I should buy a coffee, so I did and I gave her a large tip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poetica\u2019s Instagram account appears to have been deleted, though screenshots of the post attacking Goldman have circulated widely on X.<\/p>\n

Poetica Coffee is an Uzbek caf\u00e9 with seven locations throughout New York. According to its website, the caf\u00e9 roots its service in the concept of \u201cmemon,\u201d the Uzbek term for \u201csacred guest.\u201d The shop claims to welcome all people \u201cbefore knowing anything about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Poetica is also a self-proclaimed \u201cdynamic haven for both creative pursuits and meaningful connections.\u201d The caf\u00e9 claims to offer both \u201cspirited discussions with like-minded individuals\u201d and space to sit in solitude.<\/p>\n

Each of the caf\u00e9\u2019s locations has a shelf of banned books, and visitors are encouraged to take a book home to read.<\/p>\n

Goldman\u2019s support for Israel has become a central issue in his reelection bid in New York\u2019s 10th congressional district, which covers parts of Manhattan and affluent neighborhoods in Brooklyn. While he has criticized the conduct of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, he has faced attacks from the left over his refusal to endorse a ban on U.S. military aid to Israel. He has also been attacked for accepting individual donations through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee website, though he has refused to accept donations from AIPAC itself. Goldman is facing Democratic Socialist Brad Lander, who has received an endorsement from Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very openly opposed to this Israeli government,\u201d Goldman said. He stressed that Israel is a democracy with free elections, and he is hopeful that the country will make the \u201cright choice\u201d in its elections later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have so many issues with Donald Trump. I have many issues with Prime Minister Netanyahu,\u201d he told CNN. \u201cBut simply because I support the existence of Israel as a Jewish state \u2014 as the only Jewish state \u2014 does not by any means mean that I support everything that government does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the politics of these accusations, Goldman lamented the unrealistic image it presented of his city.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo people obviously from different backgrounds, different faiths,\u201d Goldman told CNN, \u201cbut that\u2019s what America is. That\u2019s what New York City is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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‘Here at Poetica, we don\u2019t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers,’ the chain, which claims to welcome all people, posted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ Opens Investigation into Brooklyn Caf\u00e9 That Banned Pro-Israel Congressman - American Housing Transition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanhousingtransition.com\/?p=208\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ Opens Investigation into Brooklyn Caf\u00e9 That Banned Pro-Israel Congressman - 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