New York lawmaker says it’s ‘sad’ that a cafe banned him over his pro-Israel views

New York Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman has said it is “sad” that a Brooklyn coffee shop banned him over his views on Israel – a move which has put the cafe under investigation by the Trump administration’s justice department. Goldman represents New York’s 10th congressional district and holds pro-Israel views. He made the “sad” remark to CNN after Brooklyn’s Poetica Coffee banned him in a viral, since-deleted social media post after a visit from him on Sunday. The cafe later refunded his coffee purchase – but it did not stop assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon of the US justice department’s civil rights division to announce on X that her office was investigating Poetica Coffee. Goldman has since replied that he would rather Dhillon’s office spent its “time and resources investigating antisemitism against people who do not have a platform that I do, who are not elected officials, who do not – in some ways – ask for this”. “I mean, I don’t ask for the antisemitism, but I’m a public figure and I can accept the criticism,” Goldman said. The controversy centering on Goldman brewed after the since-deleted Instagram post from Poetica Coffee showed him looking at his phone while standing at the cashier. “We see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee,” Poetica Coffee wrote . …