Roughly 65 protesters and counter-protesters gathered outside a Brooklyn coffee shop on Wednesday after the chain banned Rep. Dan Goldman over his stance on Israel.
The demonstrations at Williamsburg Poetica Coffee shop came days after the chain’s now-deleted Instagram post showing Goldman inside its Park Slope café — and said he was not welcome back.
In the caption, Poetica said it did not serve “genocide enablers” and told the New York Democrat not to return. It also said it had refunded his order.
“Hey Congressman Dan Goldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee,” the deleted post read. “Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice?”
On Wednesday morning, Business Insider observed a few dozen protesters outside Poetica’s Williamsburg location, along with two smaller, less organized counter-protest groups. NYPD officers separated the groups with barricades as demonstrators shouted competing chants into microphones and megaphones.
The demonstration — organized by #EndJewHatred, a Jewish advocacy group — included several speakers who called on Poetica to apologize, praised the Justice Department’s decision to open a civil-rights investigation into the chain, denounced New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and led a chant supporting the New York City Police Department.
In two other barricaded areas, counter-protesters held signs condemning Israel’s military actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. Several of them took turns using a megaphone to chant or address the pro-Israel demonstrators.
NYPD officers directed protesters, counter-protesters, and onlookers to stay behind temporary fencing. Officers also directed traffic, which was mildly slowed by camera crews outside the coffee shop.
A small stream of customers continued to walk into the shop past the protesting groups. One man ate a muffin inside the shop while watching the protests.
Business Insider spoke to several people who walked by, as well as people who came to support both sides. While some demonstrators said they were motivated by strongly held views about antisemitism, Israel, and Palestinian rights, several passersby said they had not heard about the protest beforehand and had stopped because of the spectacle.
One passerby suggested the groups were being hyperbolic. “It’s a lot of mental gymnastics both groups are doing,” the man said.
The controversy surrounding Poetica has already drawn national attention and federal scrutiny. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it had opened an investigation into the incident, citing federal laws that bar public companies, including coffee shops, from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, or national origin.
Poetica did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The chain’s Instagram account was unavailable on Wednesday afternoon.
Poetica Coffee’s Yelp page also displayed a “public attention alert” after the business received an influx of one-star reviews.
Goldman, who is Jewish and represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, said earlier this week that he had stopped by the café with his young daughter and had a pleasant interaction with the staff. In an Instagram comment, he called the shop’s post “sad.”
In a later interview with CNN, the US representative for New York’s 10th congressional district said that he supported human rights and “what is going on in the Middle East is horrific”
“Now, I may disagree as to whether or not there’s a genocide, but come on, we’re better than this, and we need to be better than this,” Goldman said about the incident. He added that Justice Department resources might be better used on antisemitism cases involving people without his public platform.
Goldman lost Tuesday’s Democratic primary for New York’s 10th congressional district to Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller.
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