New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing swift backlash after declining to condemn a local coffee chain that told a Jewish congressman with pro-Israel views that he was not welcome.Mamdani has remained silent after the Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based Poetica coffee shop posted — and later deleted — a message on social media telling Rep.Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., not to return after he stopped by the shop with his daughter Monday.
The mayor declined to comment through a spokesman when contacted by The New York Times on Monday."Shameful," Fox News Radio analyst Josh Kraushaar wrote on social media in response to a section of The Times story detailing that Mamdani declined to comment."Well folks, we've reached the stage of antisemitism where Jews are being publicly barred from businesses," the CEO and co-founder of the antisemitism-focused nonprofit Boundless Israel said on X."A coffee shop in Mamdani's New York City told Jewish Congressman Dan Goldman he wasn't welcome in their store."Zohran Mamdani announces new members of his team at the Brooklyn Public Library Greenpoint Branch in Brooklyn on Dec.
17, 2025.(Shawn Inglima/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)MAMDANI SKIPS ISRAEL DAY PARADE DESPITE JOINING OTHER CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS"The café is implementing Mamdani's wishes," journalist Melissa Braunstein said.Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.In a since-deleted social media post, Poetica Coffee said it would have declined to serve Goldman had staff recognized him in the store.
Goldman has notably declined to characterize Israel's war in Gaza as a genocide and has received financial contributions from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, drawing criticism from some on the progressive left. "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?" ...