The façade of the Blue Moon Hotel, on New York's Lower East Side. (Courtesy)

Jewish Owners of Sole Kosher Hotel in Manhattan Endure Antisemitic Attacks, Boycott

Shira Dicker

09/30/2024

Protesters have vandalized the Blue Moon Hotel, accusing the owners of being “Zionist filth” and “baby-killers.” Jewish-owned Caffè Aronne on the Upper East Side faces similar harassment, including threats and staff walkouts.

(New York) The Blue Moon Hotel, located just south of Delancey Street on Manhattan’s historic Lower East Side, features suites named after American Jewish icons like Eddie Cantor, Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, and the Marx Brothers. It’s home to the only kosher-certified hotel-based restaurant and café in Manhattan, with mezuzahs adorning every room’s doorway. On Sundays, live klezmer music fills the lobby.

This hotel is filled with a love of New York City and a love of the Jewish life that flourished here

“This hotel is filled with a love of New York City and a love of the Jewish life that flourished here,” owner Randy Settenbrino told The Media Line during a recent visit. “I raised my children to have strong Jewish identities and to know their heritage, yet I also believe in Western culture.”

It appears that the owners’ visible Jewish identity has sparked recent attacks on the Blue Moon Hotel and the Settenbrino family, framed as pro-Palestinian activism. These troubling events echo the targeting of Jewish businesses in Nazi Germany almost a century ago.

Since July, the Blue Moon has faced death threats, hostile social media posts, menacing phone calls, protests, vandalism, and damage to its facade. The harassment campaign also includes negative reviews on travel websites, seemingly aimed at sinking the business and hurting the family.

The catalyst appears to be Bram Settenbrino, Randy’s oldest son, who has served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“This hotel belongs to a Jewish terror family and needs to be closed in one way or another. No mercy,” stated a post on Instagram. Another post on X, formerly Twitter, claimed to show Bram in IDF uniform, “indiscriminately shooting at residential areas including tents in Gaza from a tank” and “blowing up neighborhoods and mosques in Gaza.”

These posts fueled outrage among anti-Israel protesters, quickly going viral. Calls spread to join efforts against the “Zionist filth” and alleged genocide supporters, often accompanied by appropriated Holocaust imagery. The family was also “doxed” with personal information, including home addresses and phone numbers, shared online. Flyers displayed Bram’s picture with messages like “Boycott the Blue Moon Hotel: No racists, Islamophobes, Zionists,” while others labeled him a “war criminal.” Over the summer, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) students arrived in matching red keffiyehs and khaki pants to shout invectives, and the largely college-age crowd of protesters hinted at the possible involvement of nearby NYU or CUNY students.

In recent weeks, security footage shows vandals arriving at night, faces hidden under hoodies, to splash red paint on the hotel’s facade. Inverted red triangles and the words “baby-killer” were spray-painted on the front windows.

The words “baby-killer” were spray-painted on the front windows of the hotel. (Courtesy)

Bram is one of six kids, all raised with integrity

The harassment has caused a 30% drop in business for the Blue Moon compared to last year, according to Settenbrino. Despite the stress, he remains determined. “Since I was a teenage boy, I’ve been very vocal about my Judaism. I am out there and doing what I can in any way for Jewish continuity. I have my eye on the prize: on the Jewish future. Bram is one of six kids, all raised with integrity,” he said.

On a recent Friday afternoon, the Blue Moon Hotel’s lobby provided a peaceful escape from the bustling streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Inside, paintings of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, children at rest, and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden lined the walls, alongside collages made from historical artifacts and personal effects from former tenement dwellers. A gaggle of guests sat inside Sweet Dreams Café at quaint tables, nibbling on homemade pastries and waiting for their drinks. Piano music harmonized with the gentle hiss of the espresso machine.

A Frida Kahlo painting alongside a collage made from historical artifacts and personal effects from former tenement dwellers, at the Blue Moon Hotel in New York. (Shira Dicker/The Media Line)

Settenbrino emerged from the back kitchen, preparing lunch for a private party that afternoon at the hotel’s restaurant—Settembrini’s Trattoria. Bram worked the espresso bar while his younger brother, Pace, supplied the Hasidic and traditional cantorial melodies on the piano.

Situated within an 1879 tenement building, the Blue Moon—purchased by Settenbrino in parcels beginning in the late 1990s—is either a hotel within a museum or a museum tucked inside a hotel. During its renovation, which began in 2000 and concluded six years later, the property expanded from five stories to its present eight-story height.

The hotel was renovated from 2000 to 2006, expanding the property from five stories to its present eight-story height. (Courtesy)

An artist whose works enliven the hotel’s interior, Settenbrino preserved many of the building’s original structural and architectural elements during the six-year renovation. For example, he pointed to the oversized soapstone planter in front of the hotel, which originally served as a bathtub in which the tenement’s children were bathed over a century ago.

Also preserved were the personal effects of the tenants due to the mandated sealing of rooms on the upper floors of the tenement in 1936—for nearly 70 years. When Settenbrino acquired the property, the sealed rooms presented him with what he calls “time capsules.” He incorporated many of these treasures within his collages.

Local artist Tobi Kahn recalled happening upon the Blue Moon years ago after leading a gallery tour and termed it “a little gem.” “I believe in eating with your eyes,” he told The Media Line. “I like places that, when you walk in, you feel that there is beauty all around you.”

Settenbrino calls his hotel, located across the street from the Tenement Museum, “the last Jewish tenement.”

“What we’re telling here is an unabashedly Jewish story—the real Jewish story of the Lower East Side,” he said.

The Media Line reached out to local organizations and the offices of elected officials to ask for their responses to the ongoing harassment of the Blue Moon and the Settenbrino family. “We’re not going to comment at this time,” Simon Kostelanetz from Council Member Christopher Marte’s office (District 1), told The Media Line.

Scott Richman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for New York and New Jersey, told The Media Line that his organization has been taking the Settenbrino case seriously and “dealing with it from the beginning.”

After the Settenbrino family reached out to the ADL, Richman explained, the agency brought in law enforcement to protect both the business and the family. He noted that police started paying closer attention to the situation but added, “There’s a limit to what law enforcement can do … as [the protesters] are allowed to stand on the street.”

Richman placed the targeting of the Blue Moon in the broader context of increasing local attacks on Jews and Jewish-owned businesses. He cited statistics showing a rise in incidents over the past year, surpassing the totals from the previous three years combined. He also mentioned recent maps published online that identify Jewish, Zionist, or Jewish-adjacent entities as targets. Protesters often cast a wide net, he explained, even attacking institutions because they do not boycott Jews.

“Our involvement is simply to try to manage it; there is only so much you can do,” he explained, adding, “You also don’t want to call too much attention to it.”

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The Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC) responded to The Media Line’s query about the Blue Moon’s situation, noting that the hotel, with just 22 rooms and a small staff, is one of over 700 hotels in New York City with about 128,000 rooms. A spokesperson added, “HANYC cannot speak for law enforcement but condemns all acts of intimidation and violence, including verbal threats.”

Further uptown, Caffè Aronne, a Jewish-owned business on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has dealt with similar harassment. After displaying hostage posters, the Israeli flag, and other overtly Jewish and pro-Israel items following October 7, the café experienced staff walkouts, boycotts, and direct attacks.

After displaying hostage posters, the Israeli flag, and other overtly Jewish and pro-Israel items following October 7, Caffè Aronne experienced staff walkouts, boycotts, and direct attacks. (Screenshot: X)

When news of the attacks on Caffè Aronne spread via social media, Jewish community WhatsApp groups, and local newspapers, supporters flocked to the café. Freelance baristas volunteered their services after the staff walked out, and within days, lines stretched around the block. Despite this surge in support, it’s disheartening that, nearly a year later, serious challenges persist.

“I think that we’re not out of the woods, we’re nearing that point, like in COVID, when we thought, maybe this will be here forever,” Aaron Dahan, the owner of Caffè Aronne, told The Media Line. “We still have people coming in and screaming ‘Free Palestine!’ randomly. People steal our teddy bears, rip the kidnapped signs off the walls. … A woman came in, placed an order for four drinks which came to about $30, then noticed the Israeli flag and flipped out, screaming, yelling, cursing, that she wants her money back. We gave her her money back.”

I think it’s never going to end

Dahan continued, “Some incidents are more worrying than others.” Recently, an Amazon delivery driver took their Israeli flag, burned it, and yelled about burning Jews. “Twice, we’ve come in to find our mezuzah missing. We’re actively losing sales and clients.” He paused. “I think it’s never going to end.”

The ADL’s Richman echoed Dahan’s pessimism regarding the immediate future. “The situation is not good. We’ve now been living with the aftermath of October 7 for a long time,” he said.

Settenbrino, however, finds hope in allies like Jason Guberman of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy, and through the events he’s able to host, such as private parties, weekly klezmer concerts, and a recent gathering of IDF soldiers. “They had the time of their lives last night,” he said. “Everyone shared their stories—where they were, what they did. One soldier talked about how he was wounded. Every single one of them was idealistic.”

Much like the owner of the Blue Moon Hotel himself.