Baristas at the Jewish-owned Upper East Side coffee shop walked out in droves

The Jewish owner of a New York City coffee shop was overwhelmed by an outpouring of community support after his pro-Palestinian bartenders walked off the job.

Manhattan’s Caffe Aronne was considering closing its doors Tuesday after workers quit en masse over owner Aaron Dahan’s support for Israel in the ongoing war with Hamas. The baristas chose to walk out rather than engage in meaningful conversation with the Jewish owner about the Free Palestine pins they wore to work at the Upper East Side cafe.

“Our staff was young. They think they know it all, college-educated liberals,” Dahan told the New York Post on Tuesday.

“They think we are supporting genocide, we are supporting colonialism. They know the keywords but they don’t really know what they mean,” added 25-year-old owner Magen David, who started displaying an Israeli flag in the store a few weeks ago and launched a fundraiser to help the Israeli Red Cross . Adom.

But “our staff wasn’t there for that,” according to Dahan who he said The Post reports that five baristas have quit their jobs at the cafe since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Amid the chaos created by the baristas’ walkout, the community came out in droves to show their support, with customers seen on video waiting in a line that stretched around the isle of the cafe that’s only been open for 10 months .

I’m Israel Chai Latte! ☕️

This video was just taken at Caffè Aronne, a coffee shop on 71st and Lexington in NYC, where the line is 2 blocks long!

The cafe’s owner, Aaron Dahan, has been donating profits to Israel since October 7 and has also flown a… pic.twitter.com/dcNVvfPgTr

— Rabbi Shmuel Reichman (@ReichmanShmuel) November 7, 2023

Dahan explained how he tried to communicate with the baristas before they left.

“We knew our staff. We knew they were thinking these things. I said, ‘Let’s go to dinner. let’s sit down We ask questions. let’s learn Let’s realize that we’re not all here trying to kill each other,” he said.

But at a catering event on Tuesday, Dahan realized she couldn’t operate the store without the workers and asked her mother to help by closing the doors.

“He called me. He said, ‘Mom, I’m having a private event. I have to close the shop. I said, ‘Aaron, I’m not going to let anybody close your store,'” Peggy Dahan told The Post, admitting she took a crash course in learning how to use the cash register and “pour a cold brew and use the espresso.” . machine.”

Scoop: The owner of Manhattan’s Caffe Aronne has donated the proceeds to the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross. Staff at the Upper Eastside location became upset and began wearing symbols of Palestine in protest before they all left. Now, many of the Jews and/or Israelis… pic.twitter.com/G4ffzZkiPN

— Andy Ngo ️‍ (@MrAndyNgo) November 7, 2023

“About 70 people were lined up outside the store, stretching down Lexington Avenue and 71st Street. while many were carrying the Israeli flag around 1 p.m. The store has seen a significant increase in customers after it spread word about its baristas, with local doctors and rabbis stopping by and encouraging people to buy gift cards and purchase menu items,” the Post reported.

Today is Caffé Aronne. The line surrounds the block. This is the strength of our community.

Lines in this city are never things to get excited about. This is a line I will be delighted with. Looking forward to visiting later today. pic.twitter.com/Dqb9VwnjYi

— AYM Higher (@AYM_Higher_) November 7, 2023

Plastic surgeon Dr. Ira L. Savetsky announced his “favorite” coffee to his nearly 50,000 Instagram followers.

“Almost all the workers at my favorite coffee shop, @caffearonne, down the block from my office, quit today because the owner is a proud Jew and supporter of Israel,” wrote Savetsky, whose wife is a former “Real Housewives of New York”. star, Lizzy Savetsky.

“Please everyone join them by visiting them at 71st and Lexington, buying gift cards, donating their ambucycle for @magen_david_adom and leave them a positive review on Google!” he added in the post that included a video of him describing what happened next to Peggy Dahan.

“It’s crazy what’s going on,” Peggy Dahan said. “What happened this morning is I got all these texts from people I don’t even know saying, ‘Peggy, here we go.’ I walk in, two people were hugging me at 8:30 in the morning”

“Now there’s a line around the corner. It just shows what an amazing community we have,” he added.

A story circulated in Jewish group chats today that baristas at Caffe Aronne on the Upper East Side quit en masse because of the owner’s support for Israel. I sent it to a friend in New York and she sent me this photo of a line around the block. pic.twitter.com/Fx6zyTUSwQ

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) November 7, 2023

Caffe Aronne right now, the New York cafe whose owner has been sending income to Israel and whose baristas have quit and whose mother now runs the shop. The line still wraps around the block at 5 p.m pic.twitter.com/BsVgsqhVQJ

— Andrew Ghalili (@AndrewGhalili) November 7, 2023

“All this anti-Semitism is very scary,” said Bina Dabbah, a resident of the Upper East Side neighborhood who offered to “wash the dishes, mop the floor” to help.

“I know the baristas here and it’s really annoying that all these young people are, I don’t know what they are, ignorant? Hateful? Brainwashed? It’s really scary, that’s what’s going on in this country, but I hope somebody knows how to fix it because it’s really scary,” he told The Post.

Customers lined up around the block for coffee at Caffe Aronne at UES chanting “Am Yisrael Chai” as the owner greets everyone.

“We got a lot of requests,” he said after bartenders walked out en masse over their support for Israel. pic.twitter.com/naHZNNfgh8

— Caroline Downey (@carolinedowney_) November 7, 2023

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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