Perhaps the only local issue to unite Jews and non-Jews, Zionists and anti-Zionists and progressives and conservatives in New York City is a love for the Upper West Side emporium Zabar’s.

Their remarkable unity was on display this week after Saul Zabar, who led his family’s famed grocery store for over seven decades and helped make it a cornerstone of Jewish culture in New York City, died at 97.

“A true New York legend. He gave the city lox, love, and a place to argue over babka,” wrote New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a post on X . “Zabar’s isn’t just a store, it’s a slice of NYC soul. May his memory be a blessing.”

“I grew up going to Zabar’s. So many of my childhood memories center around the best lox in NYC (which is saying something),” tweeted Zohran Mamdani, the progressive who

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