Effy’s Cafe, a kosher Israeli eatery located at 104 West 96th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues), was vandalized on Sunday.
Red paint was splattered on the exterior and on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, the words “Form line here to support genocide” and “Free Gaza” were written.
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NYC – Jewish owned eatery vandalized once again by the “Free Palestine” supporters.
None of the other businesses around were targeted, only this one.
Are we allowing Germany 1939 to happen all over again? pic.twitter.com/oS6yRXWqxf
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) March 18, 2024
Local leaders, including Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, were quick to condemn the act – which is now being investigated by police as a hate crime.
“Early this a.m. Effy’s Cafe on W.96th St was defiled with graffiti,” Levine posted on Threads. “This business was targeted for one reason: the owners are Jewish and it’s a kosher establishment. I am here now having brunch with @mclasher to show support. You should come too! (Food is excellent).”
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Once word spread, a group of locals decided to help restaurant staffers clean up the mess.
“We’re not going to take it lying down,” one Upper West Sider told the Times of Israel with cleaning supplies in hand.
In May 2020, Effy’s announced that it would be permanently closing after serving the Upper West Side for seven years. Then, towards the end of 2020, Effy’s owner Efi Jacoby messaged ILTUWS saying that “After a depressing 8 months and a lot of losses, we decided to open up and get my people back to work for our sanity. We will open tomorrow for brunch from 8am-5pm.” Effy’s also has a location at 1688 York Avenue at East 89th Street.
It doesn’t take much for the haters to find any excuse to express their venom.
Were there cameras outside to nail the cowards who did this? I hope so.
This hurts my heart. This plucky establishment doesn’t deserve this kind of hate. Please patronize them to support them.
Also, they’re on a very visible thoroughfare, I do wonder how this happened with no witnesses