A Brooklyn coffee shop publicly branded Rep. Dan Goldman a "genocide enabler," issued him a $9.82 refund, and told him never to return, all because of his support for Israel. Now the Department of Justice wants to know whether that amounts to illegal discrimination.
Poetica Coffee, a chain with seven locations across New York City, posted a hostile message on social media after Goldman stopped by its Lorimer Street location in Williamsburg with his seven-year-old daughter. The visit itself was unremarkable. Goldman's daughter needed a restroom. A barista let her use one before the family had bought anything. Goldman purchased a coffee out of gratitude.
What happened next was anything but routine. The shop's owners recognized Goldman after the fact, posted surveillance images of him inside the store, and published a screed that read like a political blacklist dressed up as a café policy.
Poetica's message, shared on Facebook and Instagram, left little room for ambiguity:
"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 went viral over the weekend. It has since been deleted, the Washington Examiner reported, but not before screenshots circulated widely and drew responses from Jewish advocacy groups, federal officials, and Goldman himself.
Goldman's reply was notably restrained. He said he was "sorry to see this post" and praised the barista who had served him and his daughter.
"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. 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."
That a sitting congressman had to publicly hope a coffee-shop employee would still receive her tip tells you something about the climate in parts of New York City right now.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon responded on X with a pointed warning. Federal law, she noted, prohibits public accommodations such as coffee shops from discriminating against patrons based on race, religion, or national origin.
"These actions are not only reprehensible, they're potentially illegal. The Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation, and will bring an enforcement action if warranted."
National Review confirmed the DOJ Civil Rights Division opened the investigation into Poetica Coffee for potentially violating federal public accommodations law. No specific statute number has been cited publicly, but the legal framework is well established: businesses open to the public cannot turn customers away based on protected characteristics.
The question the investigation will likely turn on is whether Poetica's conduct targeted Goldman for his political positions or for his identity as a Jewish supporter of Israel, or whether, as Jewish advocacy leaders argue, the two are inseparable in this context.
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, did not mince words. He asserted that Poetica's treatment of Goldman "absolutely violates New York's human rights laws that bar discrimination" and called for a thorough review under both city and state human rights law.
"Assigning collective blame to Jews or perceived supporters of Israel over disagreements with Middle East policies is the very definition of antisemitism. Turning a cup of coffee into a Jewish identity litmus test is an affront to the law, our values, and every New Yorker who rejects discrimination."
Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Advocacy Jewish Center, told the New York Post that Poetica's reference to AIPAC money "gave the game away" regarding the owners' views. The AIPAC line in the post, "it's probably coming from AIPAC anyways", trades on a familiar antisemitic trope about Jewish money and political influence.
Goldfeder put the stakes plainly: "They put a huge amount of Jewish people on notice that they are not welcome. It's not just about Dan Goldman. It puts a lot of Jews on edge."
That framing matters. A shop that bans one congressman sends a message to every Jewish customer who walks through the door wondering whether their views, or their identity, will be next on the blacklist.
The Washington Free Beacon identified Poetica's owner as Parviz Mukhamadkulov, who posted the surveillance images of Goldman and has a history of extreme anti-Israel social media posts. On LinkedIn, Mukhamadkulov wrote: "Pretty simple process if you support genocide we reserve the right not to serve you."
The Free Beacon's reporting also uncovered a pattern of legal and regulatory problems at Poetica Coffee that undercuts any image of principled civic activism. Mukhamadkulov and Poetica Coffee owe the state of New York $397,166.58 in mostly unpaid sales tax as of June 20, 2026. The Brooklyn location was cited by health inspectors in June 2026 for "filth flies" and unsanitary personal cleanliness conditions, receiving its worst health inspection on record.
Nearly $400,000 in unpaid state taxes. Flies in the kitchen. And the owner lectures a congressman about morality over a $9.82 cup of coffee.
When Fox News reached out to the shop for comment, a Poetica Coffee staffer offered five words: "No comment. We stand against genocide." The shop's own website, Fox News noted, promises to treat all customers with "unconditional dignity", a commitment that apparently does not extend to Jewish elected officials who support Israel.
Neither New York State Attorney General Letitia James nor New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has responded publicly to the controversy. The silence is conspicuous. When a business in the nation's largest city publicly announces it will refuse service to people based on their political support for a U.S. ally, and does so using language steeped in antisemitic tropes, the relevant state and city officials might be expected to weigh in.
Mamdani's broader political posture offers some context. The mayor has openly rallied with socialist political figures and challenged mainstream Democratic Party leadership, positioning himself well to the left of his party's center. Whether that positioning explains his silence on an antisemitism controversy in his own city, voters can judge for themselves.
Even Brad Lander, the city comptroller and Goldman's opponent in a competitive Democratic primary, acknowledged the shop crossed a line. "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," Lander said. Lander himself has faced his own legal troubles over protest tactics, so his willingness to call out Poetica's behavior is notable.
Goldman, for his part, told the Washington Examiner he would prefer the DOJ direct its resources toward investigating antisemitism against private citizens rather than public figures like himself. It is a generous sentiment, but private citizens do not have the platform to fight back. The federal investigation may serve a broader purpose precisely because it signals that this kind of conduct has legal consequences, no matter who the target is.
The Poetica episode did not happen in a vacuum. New York's political and business climate has grown increasingly hostile in ways that extend well beyond one coffee shop. Major financial firms have been fleeing the state amid what critics describe as an anti-business regulatory environment. The ideological currents running through parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan have made the city a laboratory for progressive litmus tests, on everything from renaming bridges to policing speech.
What makes the Poetica case distinctive is how brazen it was. The shop did not quietly refuse service. It published surveillance photos of a sitting congressman and his child, branded him with a list of political slurs, invoked antisemitic conspiracy theories about AIPAC funding, and told him never to return. Then it deleted the post when the backlash arrived.
Several open questions remain. The DOJ investigation is in its early stages, and no formal enforcement action has been taken. The owners have not publicly responded to the federal probe. Whether New York's own civil rights apparatus, under James's office or the city's human rights commission, will act remains to be seen.
The facts already on the table, though, are damning enough. A business that owes New York nearly $400,000 in unpaid taxes, that has been cited for filth and flies, and that publicly humiliates a Jewish congressman and his seven-year-old daughter over his support for Israel now wraps itself in the language of moral authority.
Civil rights law exists for moments exactly like this one. The question is whether New York's own leaders care enough to enforce it, or whether they will leave that job to the federal government while they look the other way.
