A popular Israeli eatery on the Upper West Side was vandalized with spray-painted blood-red and black messages reading, “Free Gaza” and “Form line here to support genocide” — and the NYPD is now probing the incident as a possible hate crime.
The vandalism targeted Effy’s Café, an American-Israeli breakfast mainstay at 104 W. 96th St. and Columbus Avenue in Manhattan for more than a decade.
“Free Gaza” was splashed across the front of the kosher bistro in red and again in green paint on the sidewalk in front of it Saturday, while “Form a line here to support genocide” was written in black on the concrete outside, too.
Police told The Post that the incident is under investigation by the department’s Hate Crime Task Force.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Upper West Side state Assembly candidate Micah Lasher visited Effy’s on Monday for brunch in a show of support for the restaurant.
“We came to show solidarity and support. To call this incident what it was — anti-Semitic hate. To demand that Albany expand the hate crimes law. And to make clear that New York will never be a place where this is tolerated, condoned, or chalked up to reasonable political discourse,” Lasher wrote on X.
Upper West Side Councilwoman Gale Brewer also called attention to the incident on social media, telling followers that if they see a hate crime to contact the NYPD and her office.
Brewer also shared images of another case of vandalism found Saturday less than a mile away from Effy’s Café, at West 105th Street and Riverside Drive off Riverside Park.
Photos show large decorative rocks near the park covered with messages in black spray paint that read, “Free Palestine” and “Israelism is terrorism.”
Effy’s also has a location on the Upper East Side.
The cafe did not return The Post’s request for comment Monday.
