How a NYC Falafel Store Fuels Anti-Semitic Rage
Once crowned NYC’s top street vendor, Freddy Zeideia’s “King of Falafel” is now mired in controversy. Amid war abroad and rising antisemitism at home, his Astoria shop, plastered with a “Stop the Genocide” sign, has become a flashpoint. Some still savor the shawarma, but for many Jewish New Yorkers, it’s no longer just food, it’s a front in a painful cultural war.
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For over 20 years, King of Falafel & Shawarma at 30-15 Broadway in Astoria, Queens, has been a Palestinian joint run by Fares "Freddy" Zeideia since 2002. He kicked off with a food truck seven months after 9/11, battling prejudice to peddle his crispy falafel and shawarma, snagging New York City’s #1 street vendor title and a Vendy Award for Best Street Food. A Midtown Manhattan spot followed in 2010, but now it’s a different story.
This place, with its truck grill facade and smug #YEAHHHHBABY awning, dishes out Middle Eastern staples, falafel platters, beef-and-lamb shawarma, and new falafel burgers, all halal and cooked from family recipes.
Murals of Jerusalem and Manhattan scream his Palestinian pride, but the food’s overshadowed by filth, cockroach complaints, and that damn "Stop the Genocide" sign. Some still rave about the portions and service (10/10!), but others are fed up. In 2024, Freddy’s family home in Ramallah was vandalized, and he was slapped with a $6,000 fine for that oversized banner tied to the Israel-Palestine mess. He’s hinted at retiring, listing the business for sale in 2022 after two decades, yet he clings on. Open 11 AM to 10 PM, it’s a neighborhood fixture, until you see the hate it’s stoking.
Fanning the Flames of Murderous Hate
Jews are being slaughtered—echoes of 1938 ringing loud with millions in New York under threat—and Freddy’s pouring gasoline on the fire! That "Stop the Genocide" sign, linked to his Ramallah woes, isn’t just political; it’s a slap in the face to a community reeling from rising anti-Semitism. X and Yelp are ablaze with Jewish patrons vowing to boycott, feeling the sting of his rhetoric. Supporters claim it’s just culture, not hate, pointing to his diverse clientele, but with blood on the streets, that excuse is paper-thin. This isn’t about falafel anymore—it’s about a man fanning flames while innocence bleeds.