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Glace, a new Upper East Side ice cream shop, carries on the Zabar family tradition
(New York Jewish Week) — It’s not every day that a new ice cream parlor opens on the Upper East Side — much less a new, “French-inspired” scoop shop opened by the offspring of one the most famous Jewish families in New York’s culinary scene.
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Sasha Zabar launched his latest food venture: Glace, an ice cream parlor that boasts some 20 homemade flavors, including Pistachio White Chocolate and PB&J. He’s the grandson of Lillian and Louis Zabar, who founded the eponymous Upper West Side gourmet grocery and appetizing store in 1934, and the son of Eli Zabar, the Upper East Side restaurateur who has 10 different stores and eateries.
Motivated by the lack of ice cream options in the neighborhood, Sasha Zabar decided to open Glace. (Julia Gergely)
Within minutes of the opening of Glace — the French word for ice cream — a gaggle of high schoolers had already made it their mid-afternoon hangout spot, crowding around bright red outdoor dining tables.
“There’s really nowhere to get ice cream in the neighborhood,” Zabar, 31, told the New York Jewish Week as he scooped cups and cones from behind the counter for the steady trickle of customers. “I grew up here and there used to be a Ciao Bella on 92nd between Madison and Fifth. After that closed in 2010, I’ve always wanted another ice cream store nearby.”
Located at 1266 Madison Ave., Glace occupies the former location of the French gluten-free bakery Noglu, which is also operated by Eli and Sasha. The bakery moved to a larger location just a few doors down at the beginning of 2022.
And though the scoop shop’s small, bright pink storefront with just a few stools for indoor seating is a new, independent venture, Glace stays true to the space’s gluten-free roots: Noglu’s gluten-free brownies and cookies are incorporated into several flavors, and the housemade waffle cones are also gluten-free. Glace offers homemade soft serve, sorbet, sundaes and milkshakes, and liquid toppings like hot fudge and raspberry sauce.
The “Eton Mess,” a $12 sundae that includes vanilla ice cream, strawberry sorbet, strawberry jam, whipped cream and toasted almonds. (Julia Gergely)
“I did all the flavors, I designed the store, it’s my vision being executed with a little bit of Noglu and Eli’s influence. But it’s a separate business,” Zabar said when asked how he feels about carrying on the family tradition. “It feels good, but it’s different in many ways. I want it to be its own thing.”
Then again, Zabar’s desire to strike out on his own also has precedent in the family: His father Eli split from the original Upper West Side Zabar’s business in 1973 when he moved across the park to found gourmet food shop E.A.T. Sasha Zabar and his twin, Oliver, have been involved in their father’s food empire for half a decade, and have already launched a few of the brand’s businesses, including Eli’s Night Shift, a craft beer bar on 79th and Third Ave., and Devon, a Lower East Side restaurant and cocktail bar that closed in 2021.
Zabar noted that many of his 20-some flavors — including Toasted Almond, which is reminiscent of a “gourmet version of Good Humor bar,” Zabar said, and Banoffee, a banana and salted caramel flavor — are inspired by memories from a childhood filled with Jewish celebrations, although he has yet to focus on particularly “Jewish” flavor profiles (like the Chocolate Covered Caramel Matzoh Ice Cream sold at his father’s shop this Passover for $20 a pint). “I am mostly focused on good ingredients and good flavors,” he said.
On opening day — which Zabar referred to as “an early draft” — Zabar had already identified some changes he wanted to make. The ice cream was harder than he intended (a freezer temperature fix) and he wanted to reorganize the toppings — the jars of almonds, pistachios, sprinkles and honeycomb meringue weren’t as obviously displayed as he wanted them to be.
“There are still some things that may change,” he said, adding that he plans to rotate flavors and toppings weekly, depending on what’s in season and what’s popular. “I just want to get it up and running and we’ll see where it goes.”
Zabar scoops a mango sorbet for one of the shop’s first customers. (Julia Gergely)
As for Glace’s customers, none seemed to pick up on Zabar’s perceived missteps. Several Upper East Siders out walking their dogs or taking a stroll excitedly popped their heads in to see what was finally filling the space that had been vacant for a year. While many walked in with promises to come back soon, some purchased cones, others ordered scoops and one chic older woman even tried the “Mac-wich,” a scoop of ice cream sandwiched in between two homemade, gluten-free macarons.
“I have a lot of thoughts,” said Lily, a ninth grader from a nearby high school, who stopped by to try out a mango sorbet in a waffle cone. “I’m scared to go to Noglu because it’s so expensive; I don’t even want to ask for water. I’m glad there is somewhere else to go and I love the flavors.”
(For what it’s worth, a gluten-free croissant at Noglu will set you back $10.50. A small scoop at Glace costs $7 — the cones are an additional $3.)
Her friend Lauren, who is gluten-free, opted for a chocolate cone, telling the New York Jewish Week that Glace’s opening “is really special to me.”
“I love the aesthetic, the flavors are amazing, I haven’t had a cone in five years because I can never find a gluten-free one,” she said. “It shouldn’t be three extra dollars, but at the same time I’m willing to pay for it. It’s really good.”
The pair couldn’t talk long — they were rushing to finish their ice cream cones before they melted in the sunshine. Plus, their next class began in three minutes.
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The post Glace, a new Upper East Side ice cream shop, carries on the Zabar family tradition appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas
Abdul El-Sayed, a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, said in an interview aired Sunday that the Israeli government is as “evil” as Hamas, sharpening his criticism of Israel in the closely-watched Democratic primary.
“Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil,” El-Sayed told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raja on the network’s Inside Politics program. “It’s not how evil is this one versus that one — Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
El-Sayed, 41, is a physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants. He is seeking to channel the energy of the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which protested the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas in Gaza. He is also hoping to build on the surprise success of the New York City mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani in taking on the Democratic establishment.
He is locked in a dead heat with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens. The primary is set for Aug. 4.
Earlier this month, El-Sayed faced backlash for appearing alongside streamer Hasan Piker, who has been accused of antisemitic rhetoric — including saying that Hamas “is a thousand times better” than Israel. McMorrow, who is married to a Jewish man, and Stevens, who is closely aligned with AIPAC, have both criticized El-Sayed.
In the CNN interview, El-Sayed defended his decision to campaign with Piker, framing it as an effort to reach voters who feel alienated from traditional politics. “My understanding of America is, it’s a place where we have freedom of speech,” he said.
#MISen Abdul El-Sayed on CNN Inside Politics: @mkraju: You said Israeli government is evil. Do you think they’re just as evil as Hamas?
El-Sayed: “Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It’s not about how evil one is versus the other. Hamas —… pic.twitter.com/4GfJ5oCtqR
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 19, 2026
The Michigan Senate race is shaping up as one of the starkest tests of the Democratic coalition and how the party navigates policy towards Israel in Congress amid the wars in Gaza and Iran. The state is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
Last week, 40 Senate Democrats voted to block $295 million for the transfer of bulldozers, used by the Israeli military to demolish homes in the West Bank and Gaza; 36 of them also supported a measure to block the sale of 1,000-pound bombs to the Jewish state. It shattered a previous high of 27 Democrats who backed a similar pair of resolutions of disapproval to block some weapons transfers last year.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who is Jewish, was among those who voted for the measures. In remarks as they announced their votes, Democrats highlighted their opposition to the Israeli government’s policies in the occupied West Bank, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the war with Iran.
The post U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas appeared first on The Forward.
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NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils Major Tax Hike on Unoccupied Luxury Real Estate
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the New York City Office of Emergency Management, as a major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, Jan. 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan
i24 News – NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has officially introduced a controversial new tax targeting secondary residences valued at over $5 million.
The measure, designed to tap into the city’s vast concentration of unoccupied luxury wealth, is projected to generate roughly $500 million annually for the municipal budget.
“This tax is specifically aimed at the ultra-rich,” Mamdani stated, highlighting high-profile examples such as Ken Griffin’s $238 million Midtown penthouse and Alexander Varshavsky’s $20.5 million Columbus Circle residence.
While the city has yet to finalize specific evaluation criteria or the methods for distinguishing primary from secondary homes, the proposal has already become a flashpoint for economic debate.
The move has drawn sharp condemnation from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who argued that the policy is fundamentally flawed.
Ackman contended that owners of luxury secondary residences contribute significant capital to the local economy without utilizing costly municipal services. He warned that the tax would likely trigger a corporate and high-net-worth exodus to low-tax jurisdictions like Miami, ultimately harming the city’s tax base.
President Donald Trump also entered the fray, denouncing the policy as “totally misguided” and claiming it is “destroying New York.” Trump, whose own extensive real estate holdings in the city could be impacted, argued that such taxation serves only to drive away the international investors who fuel New York’s development.
Implementation remains a significant question mark, as the tax could potentially affect nearly 13,000 property owners, including major figures like Jeff Bezos. Financial analysts point out that many of the city’s most expensive apartments are held through complex offshore structures and shell companies, making the identification and appraisal of these properties an immense administrative challenge for the city.
As the debate intensifies, the Mamdani administration faces a difficult path ahead in balancing its “tax the rich” mandate with the practical realities of New York’s competitive global real estate market.
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Iran Rebuffs Trump Announcement of New Peace Talks, State News Agency Reports
Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was sending envoys for talks in Pakistan and would launch new strikes on Iran unless it accepts his terms.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for negotiations, a timetable that would leave only a day for talks to make progress before a two-week ceasefire ends.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited no specific source in its report that Iran had rejected the talks.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” IRNA wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Iran’s rejection of the talks.
Earlier, a White House official said the US delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war’s first peace talks a week ago, and also include Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump had initially told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.