Caffe Aronne has the Buzz

Aaron Dahan hoped his café would not make the cover of the New York Post.

The 25-year old who runs Caffe Aronne on New York’s Upper East Side said it warmed his heart that whenseven of his baristas quit after he put up pictures of Israelis held hostage by Hamas, between 1500-1800 customers flocked to his café on November 7.

He told the Journal he was told “the only way that’s not the cover tomorrow is if the hostages all come home before 2 a.m.…I said God-willing we’re not on the cover,” Dahan said after Hamas’ terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, he thought his staff would want to connect.

“I was expecting them to reach out and ask how we were doing,” he said. “Zero. They couldn’t care less.”

Two quit shortly after, with five more quitting in the last few days.

He thinks those who quit were influenced by peers.

“It’s not them,” he said. “It’s the entire college community. It’s terrible.”

Though he considered closing for the day on Tuesday, his mother convinced him to keep it open and word spread on social media and Jews flocked to the café to show support. He said on a normal day he has about 300 customers; on November 8, he had more than 1,000.

A book had several signatures and e-mails of people willing to help.

He said a customer said charge $500 to their credit card for the purchase an ambulatory motorcycle in Israel by Magen David Adom.

Posing for selfies with customers, Dahan said he’d been at the location for a year.There were some antisemitic comments posted online, but Dahan thanked Google for taking down hateful negative reviews. “We had somebody on Yelp write that we had the best Palestinian baby blood latte in town,” he said.

His mother Peggy told the Journal she thinks some of the quitters were influenced by their professors. She was thankful for the outpouring of people who came to buy and the offers to help.

“The support has been insane,” she said.

Manhattan resident Jacqueline Wladis showed up at Caffe Aronne after her mother sent her a reel on Instagram and told her to go.

“We should all be on the side of humanity,” she said. “To stage a walkout because someone is supporting the only democracy in the Middle East may be influenced by social media.”

Rabbi Pesach Sommer, coordinator of spiritual development at the Ramaz school, said “the story shows the power of this community, and of turning dark into light.”

Elan Kornblum, president and publisher of the Great Kosher Restaurants Media Group and theadministrator of the 87,000-member Great Kosher Restaurants Foodies page on Facebook, said it was heartwarming to see so many people support the establishment.

“You know, they can donate $10. But to stand for hours just to get a cup of coffee? That says a lot. That’s making a statement.” – Elan Kornblum, Great Kosher Restaurants Media Group

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “Lines around the block? Amazing. I’ve seen some amazing things but this, I couldn’t believe it. There were lines outside the block. In the cold weather, people were standing outside. You know, they can donate $10. But to stand for hours just to get a cup of coffee? That says a lot. That’s making a statement. That’s not just ‘we want to help out.’ That’s showing the world we’re going to show up, so that’s pretty cool.”

Dahan, who attended Baruch College and Tel Aviv University has some Israeli family and said he is aware that it is a politically charged climate but he’s hoping for the best.

“This shows that the Jewish community sticks together like glue,” he said.