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What you need to know today
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A Brooklyn cafe posted a photo on Instagram of Rep. Dan Goldman at the shop, saying it doesn’t serve “genocide enablers.” Poetica Coffee deactivated its account after backlash to the post, in which the cafe announced that it had refunded Goldman and said his money was “probably coming from AIPAC.” The post added that staff would have turned Goldman away if they had immediately recognized him, and warned him not to return. Goldman, a Jewish Democrat who faces a challenge from Israel critic Brad Lander in Tuesday’s New York primaries, replied in a comment that a barista allowed his 7-year-old daughter to use the bathroom even though they did not purchase anything. “I made sure to buy a coffee in return for her kindness,” he said. “I hope you at least make sure she gets the tip that she deserved.” The cafe said it received death threats before its account was deleted.
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AIPAC is indirectly supporting Rep. Adriano Espaillat against his challenger, pro-Palestinian advocate Darializa Avila Chevalier. The pro-Israel lobby has funneled $650,000 to BOLD America, a group supporting Hispanic candidates including Espaillat, Politico reported. Espaillat is attempting to fend off Avila Chevalier in one of New York’s most competitive primaries. Like progressives hoping to ride the Mamdani wave across the city, Avila Chevalier has put criticism of Israel and AIPAC at the center of her campaign.
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A prominent rabbi has accused Mamdani of “inciting hatred” after he called AIPAC “monsters” in a rally for progressive candidates. Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, who leads the Kehilath Jeshurun synagogue on the Upper West Side, said in a Facebook post on Friday that he and “millions of New Yorkers” support policies that AIPAC advocates for. Mamdani said on Thursday at a rally headlined by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that AIPAC spent “millions in dark money” to “turn us against one another” and seeks to block democracy and “an end to genocide and Netanyahu’s wars.”
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A federal court has paused Nassau County’s “buffer zone” bill prohibiting protests outside houses of worship. The bill, which would ban protest, oral advocacy and literature distribution within 35 feet of houses of worship, is far stricter than similar buffer zone legislation recently passed in New York City and New York state. A federal judge said that infringements on First Amendment rights were “unprecedented” in Nassau’s bill, reported AmNY. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running for governor of New York, has strongly supported the bill and criticized the court’s ruling.
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A UN school in New York canceled its end-of-year dance after students wrote antisemitic and homophobic messages in each other’s yearbooks. The United Nations International School launched an investigation and confiscated eighth-grade yearbooks after more than 30 were discovered to contain hate speech in their autograph sections, including swastikas and antisemitic comments, the Jewish News Syndicate reported.
🗓️ Get ready for Election Day
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Tomorrow is Election Day in the New York primaries. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find your poll site here.
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