Israeli Cafe in New York City Vandalized With Fake Blood

An Israeli cafe in New York City’s heavily Jewish Upper West Side was vandalized over the weekend with fake blood and threatening graffiti, spurring local lawmakers to call for a hate crime investigation.

Red paint was doused on the facade of Effy’s Cafe, a Kosher eatery in the borough of Manhattan owned by Israelis, and the phrase “form line here to support genocide” was sprayed on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

“Targeting a small business because of who it’s owned by — Israeli, Palestinian, or any other group — is not only wrong, it’s self defeating,” said US Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) on X/Twitter. “The recent attack on Effy’s Cafe is a cowardly act of antisemitism that cannot, and will not, be tolerated in our community.”

New York City Councilwoman Gale Brewer said she had called on the New York City Police Department (NYPD)’s Hate Crime Task Force to open an investigation into the vandalism. Other graffiti was found nearby at Riverside Park the same day which said, “Israelism is Terrorism.”

Police said that the vandals have yet to be apprehended.

Just hours after the vandalism, dozens of local residents — some draped in Israeli flags — showed up to Effy’s to help clean the graffiti and dine-in as a show of support.

By Monday afternoon, all signs of the attack had been removed.

Upper West Siders coming together to clean up the antisemitic graffiti on Israeli Jewish Effy’s Cafe on W96th Street. @NYCMayor pic.twitter.com/qFwZvRiKTt

— Melanie Notkin (@SavvyAuntie) March 18, 2024

Israeli and Jewish restaurants have been attacked repeatedly in New York City since Hamas’ Oct.7 onslaught across southern Israel.

In December, Hummus Kitchen, a Kosher restaurant on New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood, was vandalized by a woman who ripped down the Israeli and American flags hanging inside the establishment, according to videos shared on social media.

The attacks come amidst a wave of property damage against Jewish organizations and institutions across New York.

Antisemitic property crimes rose 85 percent in the city following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, NYPD data from December showed. There were 135 anti-Jewish complaints over a two-month period, up from 73 during the same period the prior year.