Photo: Courtesy Chipped Cup/Facebook The allegedly offensive sign.

Yesterday, owners Karen Cantor and Andrew Ding of the Chipped Cup in Harlem put this simple chalkboard sign outside their coffee shop and posted it to Facebook, along with the message, “Peace, love, equality. #hamiltonheights.” When a neighbor informed Ding and Cantor they had just lost a customer with their political stance, the coffee shop’s owners wrote back, “Thank goodness.” That’s when things started to get a latte worse. “GO FUCK YOURSELF,” the user fired back. (The post has since been deleted.) “You asked for it now. Get ready for some publicity!”

It’s too bad @chippedcupny discriminates against 98% of their customer base by being H8ful! #NYC— Dahlhalla (@dahlhalla) March 28, 2013



The user also apparently posted a one-star review/PSA on Yelp. “The owners here are trying to cram their political agenda down your throat,” the user wrote. Because, you know, a sidewalk chalkboard with two horizontal pink lines drawn on it is tantamount to ideological force-feeding.

This morning, someone purporting to be the owner of the coffee shop posted screenshots of the exchange and the Yelp review on Reddit, asking in an all-caps, Monty Python-esque font, “WHO’S THE HATEFUL ONE?” The reaction on Twitter has so far been stronger than a doppio espresso, of course, and the majority of Reddit commenters have come out with all kinds of support for the Chipped Cup. Who’s the doppio now? Get ready for some publicity, indeed.

By the way, the sign is back out today.

[Chipped Cup/Facebook, Reddit]