NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 23: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) greets voters outside a polling station in Manhattan's West Village, on Primary Day, June 23, 2026 in New York City. Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss family wealth is currently facing a tough …
BROOKLYN - A local Brooklyn coffee shop has become the center of a federal probe after allegedly refusing future service to Rep. Dan Goldman over his vocal support for Israel.
What we know:
The Department of Justice has officially launched a civil rights investigation into Poetica Coffee to determine whether the establishment's decision to ban the congressman constitutes illegal discrimination.
Assistant Attorney General Dhillon announced on Monday that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is looking into whether the coffee shop violated federal public accommodation laws by banning the lawmaker away based on his race, religion, or national origin.
"These actions are not only reprehensible, they’re potentially illegal," Dhillion said in an X post.
Coffee shop ban
The backstory:
Poetica Coffee banned Goldman during a social media rant over the weekend, according to a report by the New York Post.
The post has since been deleted, but it reportedly read, ""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."
Goldman responds
What they're saying:
Goldman addressed the coffee shop banning during an interview with CNN on Monday.
"I had such a nice interaction with the barista in the coffee shop," Goldman 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. It’s a reflection, I think, of a sad state of affairs that without knowing me, we could have had such a nice interaction."
The congressman is facing former city comptroller Brad Lander in New York's Democratic primary elections on Tuesday. Lander, who has highlighted Goldman’s past support from AIPAC, says he would oppose additional U.S. military aid to Israel under current conditions.
NY-10 primary election: Goldman faces Lander
The race highlights a broader Democratic divide, with Gov. Kathy Hochul backing Rep. Dan Goldman and Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsing Brad Lander.
Goldman accused Lander of using AIPAC "as a dog whistle" and said that he would "refuse to cave into that type of rhetoric and that divisiveness," according to CNN.
"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."
The Source: Information from this article was sourced from the New York Post, CNN and Assistant Attorney General Dhillon.