A New York City coffee shop banned Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman because of his support for Israel, prompting the Justice Department to open an investigation.
Poetica Coffee posted on Sunday on Facebook, “Hey Congressman Dan Goldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee. 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 post said.
Goldman faces Brad Lander in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election for the 10th Congressional District, which includes lower Manhattan and part of Brooklyn. Lander is the former New York City comptroller, and is endorsed by Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Lander, who, like Goldman, is Jewish, has centered much of his campaign against the congressman around opposing AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Politico reported that Lander “has positioned himself as more critical of Israel than the incumbent. He’s criticized Goldman for voting for U.S. military aid to Israel, called the country’s actions in Gaza a ‘genocide’ and vowed to never take AIPAC money.”
Goldman responded to Poetica’s attack on Instagram, writing, “I am sorry to see this post. 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.”
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“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,” he added.
Goldman later told CNN that the barista “was wearing a hijab, I didn’t know her, but she couldn’t have been nicer,” and he left her a “large tip.”
Truly wild stuff from a local NYC coffee shop — the city has become a very broken place
Can’t help but also notice Dan Goldman’s thoroughly dignified response
Also wondering @TheLeoTerrell @HarmeetKDhillon if this legal pic.twitter.com/qfyLX7P6Bt
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) June 22, 2026
A user posted on X in response to the incident, “The website describes Poetica as ‘a cafe where the door doesn’t close on anyone, where tea gets poured before anyone asks who you are.’ I guess they forgot to add ‘unless you’re a Jew.’”
The website describes Poetica as “a cafe where the door doesn’t close on anyone, where tea gets poured before anyone asks who you are.”
I guess they forgot to add “unless you’re a Jew”
— Zachary Neugut (@ZacharyNeugut) June 22, 2026
The New York Post reported that Lander said in a statement that Poetica had crossed the line by trying to bar Goldman from the shop.
“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. I’m glad Poetica took down their post, and I thought Rep. Goldman’s reply was extremely gracious,” he said, though the post was still up on Facebook.
Poetica has since taken down its Instagram page, according to CNN.
Goldman told the outlet that Lander has been using AIPAC as a “dog whistle” in the campaign.
“I have many issues with Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, but simply because I support the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, as the only Jewish state, does not by any means, mean that I support everything that government does,” Goldman said. “And in fact I do not and I’ve been very open about that.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted in response to the Poetica incident, “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.”
The @CivilRights is aware of the denial of service taunts to @danielsgoldman by Poetica Coffee in Brooklyn.
Federal law prohibits public accommodations such as coffee shops from discriminating against patrons based on their race, religion, or national origin. These actions are… https://t.co/reOawYeEzU
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) June 22, 2026
She added, “The Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation, and will bring an enforcement action if warranted.”
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