al Badawi / Instagram
Upper East Side Palestinian eatery al Badawi, located at 1725 2nd Ave. between 89th and 90th streets, on Thursday took to its Instagram page claiming that someone broke into the restaurant and vandalized its interior.
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“We’re reaching out with a mix of emotions following your break-in at al Badawi on the Upper East Side. While your actions caused damage and loss, what lingers most in our hearts is sadness—not anger,” the restaurant wrote on Instagram Thursday. “If you were driven by need or desperation to take such a step, know this: you are forgiven. We understand that life can sometimes push people into corners where choices become desperate. However, we want to know that if you ever find yourself in need again, you don’t have to resort to actions like this.”
East Side Feed reached out to the restaurant on Friday, asking if the owners had filed a police report and if they thought this was possibly a crime motivated by hate or prejudice. We have yet to hear back.
Additionally, East Side Feed called the New York Police Department Saturday morning to find out if a report had been filed, but an operator informed us that nothing had been filed as of 9:15 a.m.
The Upper East Side has been a flashpoint for protestors on both sides of the current conflict between Gaza and Israel. In June of this year, the homes of Jewish board members of the Brooklyn museum were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti by people claiming Palestinian solidarity. A month later, a lone vandal was accused of scrawling antisemitic symbols on an Upper East Side synagogue.
A year earlier, in November 2023, a former member of the Obama White House was caught on camera harassing a Halal cart vendor with anti-Palestinian remarks, calling him a “terrorist.” In January 2024, anti-Israel protestors targeted Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for “complicity in genocide,” the New York Post reported.
In August, the New York State Comptroller reported that hate crimes had surged in New York over the last five years with 1,089 reported instances in 2023, a figure that represents a 69% increase since 2019.
“Hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers rose by 89% (253 to 477) and 106% (18 to 37), respectively, between 2018 and 2023,” the report states.
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