Since opening in November 2024, Moondog Hifi (119 Ingraham St), has championed “audiophile sound… and “unforgettable vibes.” A listening bar with a large record collection off the Morgan L in East Williamsburg, it also boasts of  “elevated street food” of the “Mexi-terranean” variety (or “Med-Mex,” per their menu).

 “There is [sic] lots of connection between Yemenite and Mexican food,” Moondog co-owner Einat Admony, a two-time Chopped winner, three-time James Beard Award nominee, an IDF veteran and standup comic, tells Jewish Telegraphic Agency.  “We don’t want to get into anything political… For employees, we are very strict about anything that promotes anything political,” adds Elon Admony, her brother. In the interview, Einat Admony wears a yellow ribbon pin, which her brother adds is “not political.”

Admony was a driver in the Israeli air force, which she described as “super fun,” before switching to cooking, which led her to serve food to IDF generals during the Gulf War.

In another JTA article, this one about the release of her memoir, Admony says, “Israeli now is tricky,” which could explain why Moondog’s website makes no mention of the country, though Admony also says that “[in Israel] it’s all one big family,” despite there being a history of discrimination even among Israel’s recognized citizens.

There, Admony demonstrates an awareness of post-October 7th politics and its effects on her by saying it never “impacted [her] business,” though she wondered if it was impacting her capacity to be booked as talent on TV and at events.

“I’m always asking myself, ‘Is it not happening because something went down? Or it’s not happening because they realize I’m Israeli?’” she tells JTA. 

Regardless of any impact, Admony stays busy: she also owns taïm, a Mediterranean chain with 11 locations (seven of which are in Lower Manhattan, Dumbo and Park Slope) that has received investment from Chipotle, and also partners with  CookUnity and Delta Airlines. Along with those is Balaboosta, a more upscale restaurant, famous for having been deemed “solid” by New York Magazine.

On her personal account, Admony posts pictures from the National Mall, confirming her attendance at the March for Israel (less than two months after October 7th), which had notable speakers like Michael Rapaport and John Hagee, the latter of whom is known for controversial remarks.

Admony posted an Israeli flag on October 7th, while Balaboosta’s Instagram also condemned “acts of terrorism” in a belated 10/7 statement. None of these explicitly dehumanize Palestinians, but they’re also silent on Israel’s active genocide of the Palestinian peoples of Gaza and the West Bank.

In an interview on an American Jewish Committee podcast, Einat Admony alleges that Iran was directly involved in October 7th, a claim so false that even the New York Times wouldn’t make it. There, Admony and the host recount the story of her confronting “a group of teenagers” who allegedly attempted to remove pictures of October 7th hostages that were posted on Balaboosta’s windows.

When reached to clarify Moondog Hifi’s stance on the ongoing genocide in Palestine, co-owner Elon Admony responded by saying: “We understand that people may have strong feelings about current events,” but that Moondog’s “priority is to maintain a welcoming space for everyone, regardless of background or beliefs.”

Elon Admony’s response did not directly comment on Palestine, nor Einat Admony’s beliefs, which Elon says have “always been centered around food, creativity, and sharing her heritage in a way that brings people together.”

I talked to James Sweeney, a local activist who claims to have recently walked into Moondog Hifi and told multiple customers about the owners’ background before imploring them not to support the business. This is not Sweeney’s only local protest: he has also been involved in demonstrations against Israeli venture-backed cafe General Irving and Silo (90 Scott Ave), the latter of which opened in 2023 with intentional nods to Tel Aviv nightlife culture.

“People would rather say that they don’t support a genocide, and maybe donate some money and go to a protest, but don’t want to do political education,” Sweeney told me. He he thinks that people often don’t “want to elevate their principles” through direct action and boycotts of businesses because they don’t want to “struggle through difficult topics and uncomfortable situations.”

North Brooklyn and Ridgewood are no strangers to the concerns of Palestinian activists  impacting local life and business since October 7th. Within a year, the New York Post would skewer a garden in Ridgewood for circulating a community agreement listing Zionism among “forms of hate;” there was the boycott against General Irving, and Wilson Live (637 Wilson Ave), a jazz bar in Bushwick.

The latter is—or was, potentially—owned by Omer Avital, an Israeli who has also avoided firm political statements in the past, as he did in a 2024 interview with Haaretz, when he recounted his being “in Finland a little while ago, and there… they said ‘But he’s a Zionist.’ I don’t want to get into politics. That’s not where I’m at.”

Wilson Live’s patrons were splashed with red paint in the summer of 2024, as reported by CBS New York, whose interview with Wilson Live musician Itay Morchi included him saying that “The red paint on the door … resemble[d the] 1930s in Germany, when they threw red paint on Jewish homes to signify blood.” The NYPD, which trains in Israel and has a branch office in Tel Aviv, confirmed with CBS that they were investigating the assault as “criminal mischief” in lieu of a bias incident.

The pressure from local pro-Palestine protestors has produced some change. Regarding Wilson Live, on March 15th, I talked to a Wilson Ave resident, who said they haven’t seen or heard events at Wilson Live for “a while” now. (Wilson Live did not respond to a request for comment.) 

Following a wave of criticism on Twitter after the club was booked for a DSA-affiliated singles mixer last year, Silo’s owners endorsed PACBI, the BDS movement’s guidelines on boycotting artists tied to the Israel lobby. Outside of North Brooklyn, Sweeney also points to Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard’s success in forcing the eviction of drone manufacturer Easy Aerial from the Navy Yard. “Easy Aerial… [is] tested right here in Brooklyn,” Sweeney says.

Einat Admony, and Moondog Hifi more broadly, have yet to make these kinds of endorsements, or even any substantive statements regarding Israel’s act of genocide and Greater Israel irredentism in the region. And yet, there are multiple positive reviews of Moondog Hifi in local media that don’t mention this at all, while our disembodied public forums echo the same.

When asked about the nature of political boycotting of local businesses, one Bushwick local who wished not to be named told me “If I could give up Diet Coke I can give up a vinyl bar” and that “There are too many places to go already.”

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Aaron Tomey is from Georgia, lived in St. Louis, and now lives in Brooklyn. His essays have previously appeared in Hobart, Bushwick Burner Phone, and Apocalypse Confidential. He can also be found on Twitter: @ecstatic_donut.

Photos by Andrew Karpan.