Photos by Stacie Joy
Ayat made its soft-opening debut on Oct. 13 on the NW corner of Avenue C and Seventh Street. (We had the scoop on this arrival back in April.)
The Palestinian bistro has several Brooklyn outposts, including the original in Bay Ridge, and one in Pennsylvania. This is their first restaurant in Manhattan.
Here's a look inside the space, the longtime home until February 2020 of Zum Schneider...
Hours right now: Daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., depending on the night.
Hateful remarks and negative reviews
Ayat has been in the national headlines since war broke out between Israel and Hamas.
Co-owner Abdul Eleanani was featured in an ABC News piece on the challenges facing Palestinian businesses in the U.S. and Canada.
Eleanani, who is of Egyptian descent, said that "the company has faced hateful remarks made to company staff face-to-face and over the phone, as well as an onslaught of negative Google reviews." Someone also reportedly walked into the East Village location and yelled, "'You guys are terrorists,' while adding an expletive."
Eleanani told the Associated Press that Ayat "was forced to disconnect its phone after receiving 'nonstop' threatening voicemails."
Still, the hostile reception was overshadowed by the support he has received from his neighbors, many of whom are Jewish and share his views about minimizing civilian deaths, he said."In New York, we all live together, we work together, we grow together," Elenani said. "And we all want this violence to stop."
As Eater reported, the negative response was due to, in part, "the restaurant's outspoken identity and its 'call to end apartheid'" on social media.
Eleanani and co-owner Ayat Masoud told Eater that "they do not support Hamas and simply want Palestinians to be treated fairly."
