At Caffè Aronne on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the impact of the October 7 events has been profound. Aronne, the cafe's owner, shared his experiences in an interview with the Ruderman Family Foundation.
"We had always been a Jewish space. All of our wines were kosher, and the menu was always kosher," Aronne said. "We have a cousin who was killed at the Nova festival along with his girlfriend. Many of our clientele were asking, 'What can we do? How can we help?' So we decided to start a fundraiser for Magen David Adom (Israel’s emergency service)."
Caffe Aronne, New York City
(Video: The Ruderman Family Foundation | production: WIWU Productions)
However, the initiative upset some staff members. "At a certain point, our staff came in, unlocked the door and then walked out, vanished," Aronne explained. The cafe also faced vandalism, with phrases like 'Gaza' and 'Free Palestine' spray-painted on the windows.
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Pro-Palestinian slogans spray-painted on Caffè Aronne's windows
(Photo: The Ruderman Family Foundation)
Despite these challenges, the American Jewish community has shown strong support. "Families have come in saying, 'We just landed at JFK, saw this in the newspaper and knew we had to visit,'" Aronne noted. The cafe keeps a guest book at the front for visitors to sign, noting where they are from.
One customer, Danielle, expressed her pride in supporting the cafe. "As an American Jew, I'm especially proud to come here after October 7, knowing that it's a safe space to be Jewish," she said.
Aronne remains resilient. "Their spray-painting our windows, that's fine. We can clean that. What's happening [in Israel] is crazy. So we're facing our own separate battles. In our hearts, we’re one and we're really in it together," he concluded.