Justice Department investigates New York coffee shop over Goldman post

A Brooklyn coffee chain’s Instagram post about Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman has drawn the Justice Department into a fight over how far a business owner can go in expressing political outrage before crossing into unlawful discrimination. The episode has put one small New York coffee shop at the center of a much larger test of civil-rights law, one sharpened by the bitter politics surrounding Israel and Gaza.

Goldman visited Poetica Coffee with his 7-year-old daughter so she could use the restroom, then bought coffee to thank the staff. Afterward, the shop posted that it did not serve “racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers or anyone in between,” and said that if it had recognized Goldman it would have turned him away. The post also said the shop issued a refund. The account later appeared to have been deactivated, and the post was no longer visible.

The Justice Department opened a civil-rights investigation on June 22, 2026. Harmeet Dhillon, the Trump-nominated assistant attorney general for civil rights, announced the probe on X and said the Civil Rights Division would bring an enforcement action if warranted. Dhillon said federal law bars public accommodations such as coffee shops from discriminating against patrons based on race, religion or national origin. Title II of the Civil Rights Act gives that rule legal force in places such as restaurants and coffee shops, making the Goldman episode more than a local argument over social media.

Poetica Coffee has been described as a chain with seven locations across New York City, and reporting said the photo posted by the shop showed Goldman at its 7th Avenue location in Park Slope, even though the original encounter was described as happening in Williamsburg. That geographic mismatch has not lessened the legal significance of the post, which turned a routine neighborhood stop into a federal inquiry.

The case lands in the middle of New York City politics, where Goldman has been backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and was facing Brad Lander in the June 23 Democratic primary. Both men are Jewish, adding sensitivity to a race unfolding amid fierce debate over Israel and Gaza. Goldman’s House site lists civil rights, LGBTQIA+ rights and combating hate among his issue areas, giving the clash a sharp irony.

The broader backdrop is a war in which Israel’s assault on Gaza has prompted genocide allegations from rights experts and a U.N. inquiry, while Israel says it is acting in self-defense after the Hamas attack in October 2023. The Justice Department has also brought a separate public-accommodations case against Jerusalem Coffee House over alleged anti-Jewish discrimination, signaling that this is not an isolated dispute but part of a wider legal and political confrontation over what businesses may say, and what they may refuse, in public life.