Graham Platner, a Maine Democrat running for the US Senate, in October 2025. Photo: Screenshot

Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for US Senate in Maine, on Wednesday said that a skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest has been covered to no longer reflect an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.

“Going to a tattoo removal place is going to take a while,” he told the Associated Press. “I wanted this thing off my body.”

Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and military veteran, said that while his campaign initially said he would remove the tattoo, he decided to cover it up with another tattoo due to the limited options where he lives in rural Maine.

The first-time political candidate has come under fire after downplaying revelations that he possessed a tattoo resembling a symbol of Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for large-scale atrocities against millions of Jews and other victims in Europe during World War II.

The controversy intensified on Monday, when Platner, who has been mounting a progressive campaign against Republican incumbent Susan Collins, appeared on the left-wing podcast “Pod Save America.” Host Tommy Vietor played a clip shared by Platner’s campaign from a decade ago of the now-candidate dancing shirtless, with the tattoo visible, at a bar while lip-syncing to a Miley Cyrus song at his brother’s wedding. Vietor noted that “political opponents” had been telling reporters that Platner had a tattoo “with Nazi affiliation.”

Platner attempted to downplay the revelation, explaining that he requested the tattoo 18 years ago during a night of drunken partying with a group of fellow Marines in Croatia. He claimed that he and his fellow Marines did not recognize the tattoo as having any connection to the Nazis.

“We chose a terrifying skull and crossbones off the wall because we were Marines and skulls and crossbones are a pretty standard military thing,” Platner said. “And then we all moved on with our lives.”

Platner added that he is not a “secret Nazi” and has a history of publicly advocating against antisemitism and racism. 

“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner said. “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments, I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general.”

He later said he was unaware of the tattoo’s associations with Nazi Germany until his Senate campaign.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called Platner’s tattoo choice “troubling” and suggested that the candidate “repudiate its hateful meaning.”

“This appears to be a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo, and if true, it is troubling that a candidate for high office would have one,” said Jessica Cohen, an ADL spokesperson. “We do understand that sometimes people get tattoos without understanding their hateful association. In those cases, the bearer should be asked whether they repudiate its hateful meaning.”

Platner launched his Senate campaign in August, framing his insurgent candidacy as an anti-establishment challenge to unseat Collins. The progressive firebrand has focused on the Israel-Hamas war during his campaign, accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and vowing not to take any money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the preeminent pro-Israel lobbying group in the US.

Platner has come under fire after recently surfaced Reddit comments showed the candidate making disparaging remarks about black people, asking why the racial group “don’t tip.”

“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” he wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?” he wrote on Reddit in 2013.

In 2021, Platner called himself a “communist” and repudiated white, rural voters as “racist” and “stupid.”

Despite Platner’s assertions that he did not know the Nazi affiliation of the tattoo, his former political director claimed that the candidate knew of its meaning. 

“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest. He’s not an idiot; he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have covered it up because he damn well knows what it means,” Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, wrote in a social media statement.

Inspired by the “bakery renaissance” that’s currently underway across New York City — if you spot a line somewhere, there’s a very good chance there are baked goods at the end of it — T: The New York Times Style Magazine has assembled a list of “The 25 Essential Pastries to Eat in New York City.”

Among those on the list are several Jewish treats, including a buttery, chocolatey babka that’s made New Yorkers’ mouths water since 2013 and a tiny knish filled with sauerkraut and dill from a buzzy new bakery on the Lower East Side.

To assemble their of list 25 standout pastries — a tough task, we imagine — the magazine assembled a panel of renowned bakers: pastry chef and writer Tanya Bush; pastry chef Camari Mick; chef and Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi; Bánh by Lauren founder and pastry chef Lauren Tran; Shaun Velez, executive pastry chef at Daniel; and baker and cookbook author Melissa Weller.

Among the panel’s picks are some beloved old-school sweets like Lloyd’s Carrot Cake and the sour cream glazed doughnut from Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop; upscale creations like the Lysee mousse cake from Lysee and four Jewish-inspired desserts. Keep scrolling to see, in alphabetical order, which Jewish pastries are on the Times’ list.

1. Agi’s Counter’s cheesecake

Opened in 2021 by Brooklyn-based Jewish chef Jeremy Salamon, Agi’s Counter (818 Franklin Ave.) was inspired by Salamon’s grandmother, Agi, a Hungarian Jew and a Holocaust survivor.

“Most people, when they hear Hungarian, if they have any idea the first thing that comes to mind is probably paprika or goulash — maybe chicken paprikás,” Salamon, a James Beard Award-nominated chef, told the New York Jewish Week last summer. “The concept is so limited.”

The cheesecake at Agi’s Counter has been on offer since the restaurant opened — in fact, for a while, it was the only dessert on the menu. “A riff on the dense, creamy New York style often credited to Arnold Reuben, who made it a century ago at his Jewish diner, Reuben’s Restaurant in Midtown, and later popularized at diners like Junior’s, which first opened in 1950 in Downtown Brooklyn, Salamon’s version is a thick wedge made with Philadelphia cream cheese on a crushed graham cracker crust,” the magazine describes.

The cheesecake at Agi’s Counter with a blueberry compote. (Screenshot via Agi’s Counter Instagram)

At Agi’s Counter, the “well-executed take on a classic” is served topped with extra virgin olive oil, Maldon salt and a lemon wedge during dinner service. As part of the weekend brunch menu, it is topped with a blueberry and coriander compote.

“It was like $18, and I was there for lunch, so the dessert was actually the most expensive part,” said Tran. “I thought, ‘Oh, bold.’ And then I was blown away.”

While you’re there, don’t miss Agi’s Counter’s tuna melt, which features “oily, slow-cooked tuna, alpine Cheddar, pickled peppers, celery, dill and Kewpie mayo. Last year, it was one of 11 Jewish sandwiches on the New York Times’ list of “57 Sandwiches That Define New York City.”

2. Breads’ chocolate babka

The chocolatey, buttery, braided babka at Breads Bakery has been delighting New Yorkers since 2013, when the Israeli-inspired spot first opened near Union Square.

Breads’ buttery, laminated dough — “crispy-edged, springy and oozing with a Nutella-and-chocolate filling” per the Times — reignited the popularity of this Ashkenazi dessert across the city (and eventually in Paris, too.)

Today, Breads has six locations around the city, and its babka has become a New York icon — the bakery reportedly sells over 1,000 babkas a day during the winter holidays, per the Times. Co-founder and owner Gadi Peleg refers to his baker as “the house that babka built.”

According to panelist Weller, Breads “started a trend of babka, and also the trend of laminated doughs being used in different ways.”

Added Tosi: “He really defied the odds of how much chocolate one could put in babka.”

3. Elbow Bread’s potato sauerkraut knish

The Lower East Side’s buzzy Elbow Bread (1 Ludlow St.) opened last October, where baker  Zoë Kanan has been busy creating old-school Jewish baked goods with a modern twist.

Backed by partners Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross, the founders of the popular Flatiron Jewish luncheonette S&P, Kanan — who’s been called “a baker’s baker” by New York Magazine — turns out delicacies like bialys and rugelach, as well as contemporary hybrids like a challah honey bun, which is part croissant, part challah and “our sweetest ooey, gooey item,” Kanan told the New York Jewish Week.

“There aren’t many Jewish bakeries here anymore,” Kanan said. “I saw an opportunity to do something here [on the Lower East Side], in a location with so much Jewish history, and bringing my own personal style to it, which borrows from a lot of different techniques and ingredients. I love the classics and tradition is important, but what I find myself thinking about is ways to reinterpret.”

The pastry that made the T Magazine list is a savory one: a tiny sauerkraut knish, made of flaky laminated pastry wrapped around mashed Yukon Gold potatoes “flecked with crunchy salt and flavored with sauerkraut, onions, sour cream and fresh dill.”

“Knish was this thing that you just didn’t want,” panelist Weller said of the small pastry. “I love that she decided to reinvent it. Because it needed that.”

4. Fan-Fan Doughnuts’ guava and cheese fan-fan

After successfully launching the NYC mini-chain Dough Doughnuts and ice pop company La Newyorkina in 2010, Mexican-Jewish pastry chef Fany Gerson opened her Brooklyn doughnut shop Fan-Fan Doughnuts (448 Lafayette Ave.) in the fall of 2020. Despite launching during the pandemic, lines formed out the door.

In her work, as in her life, Gerson enjoys reflecting on the richness of her Jewish and Mexican heritages. “I feel like through time I’ve explored it through food and I’m kind of bridging the two worlds,” Gerson told the New York Jewish Week in 2021.

A close-up of the guava and cheese fan-fans at Fan-Fan Doughnuts. (Screenshot via Fan-Fan Doughnuts Instagram)

During Hanukkah, Gerson sells delicious and inventive sufganiyot, which are traditionally fried, round jelly-filled doughnuts that are enjoyed during the holiday. But the pastry that made the Times’ list can be enjoyed year-round: an éclair-inspired doughnut, known as a fan-fan, that’s filled with cream cheese, glazed with guava and topped by a brown butter walnut cookie crumble.

The treat is “inspired by the guava cheese roll from one of her favorite Mexico City bakeries,” according to the Times.

“That’s the thing about food, it’s not ephemeral,” Gerson told us. “How many memories are tied to food? A smell can take you back.”

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This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 13 days to the election.

Tonight’s debate

• The candidates will reunite for a second and final debate tonight, just days before early voting starts on Saturday.

• It’s the last chance for Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa to take the stage with Zohran Mamdani, who has held a double-digit polling lead for months.

• Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, called for the moderators to ask candidates about their approach to antisemitism. “It is vital all candidates get on the record and publicly lay out their strategy for how they will keep Jewish New Yorkers safe during this unprecedented time,” he said.

• His demand came as the ADL released a report this morning that found “hundreds of incidents of harassment, vandalism and physical violence targeting members of New York’s Jewish community” in 2025. The report did not include a number of incidents, but said they are growing in “both frequency and intensity.”

• The ADL told us they want the candidates to answer three questions: how they will ensure the safety of Jewish constituents; what message they give to Jewish New Yorkers who are anxious about rising antisemitism; and what response they give to Jews who “consider the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ to be a call for violence against Israelis/Jews worldwide.”

• The last question targets Mamdani, who declined to condemn the protest slogan during the primary, but has since said he would “discourage” the term and acknowledged that it incited fear in some Jewish New Yorkers. Greenblatt has attacked Mamdani for his stance on Israel and previously said the candidate would not condemn the phrase because “he believes it.”

• You can catch the debate live at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Spectrum News NY1 and WNYC radio. There will also be a livestream on YouTube. In the first debate last week, antisemitism and Israel figured prominently.

Following the money

• Neighborhoods with large Jewish communities funneled money into Cuomo’s campaign over the two days after incumbent Mayor Eric Adams quit the race, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign contributions.

• Cuomo’s largest concentration of donors came from a ZIP code covering Gravesend in Brooklyn, with more than 90 individual donors, followed by Midwood with more than 80 donors, the data showed.

• Gravesend and Midwood are both home to dense Jewish populations. Some may have rallied around Cuomo as he became the principal competitor to Mamdani, whose views on Israel alienated many older, Orthodox and more moderate or conservative Jews.

• Gravesend is the epicenter of a movement to get Syrian Jews to vote, which has included requirements for voter registration to enroll in yeshivas or attend synagogue.

• Many voters in the area supported President Donald Trump in 2024 and are Sephardic Jews with roots in Syria or originate from the former Soviet Union, which could influence their views of Mamdani as a democratic socialist.

• Cuomo also received contributions from nearly 200 people across three ZIP codes on the Upper East Side and 175 people in two Upper West Side ZIP codes.

Endorsement tracker

• Rep. Dan Goldman, a Jewish Democrat who represents swaths of Manhattan and Brooklyn, said on Tuesday that he was “not ready” to endorse Mamdani as Election Day approaches.

• Asked by CNN’s Kasie Hunt if he was going to vote for Mamdani, Goldman said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do, to be honest.”

• Goldman elaborated, “I am very concerned about some of the rhetoric coming from Zohran Mamdani, and I can tell you as a Jew in New York, who was in Israel on Oct. 7, I and many other people are legitimately scared because there has been violence in the name of anti-Israel and anti-Zionism. And I’ve asked him to speak out on that and to condemn that and I frankly haven’t really seen him do much on that.”

• In August, Goldman said he had a “good conversation” with Mamdani but would not endorse the party nominee until he took “concrete steps” to assuage the fears of Jewish New Yorkers.

• Meanwhile, Rabbi Michael S. Miller, the longtime head of New York’s Jewish Community Relations Council, has backed Cuomo in his first political endorsement, joining multiple rabbis in departing from their past practices to weigh in.

• Miller cited Mamdani’s Israel views, saying the frontrunner “would put at risk the residents of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.”

Cuomo says he would give Sliwa a job

• Cuomo suggested he would give Sliwa a job in his mayoral administration if the Republican nominee dropped out to help him beat Mamdani, when asked by the Jewish conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg yesterday.

• “That would be something that I would be interested in. We need a coalition to run this city. We need New Yorkers to come together,” Cuomo told Rosenberg.

• It’s the kind of scenario that attendees at a synagogue meeting on Sunday pitched to Sliwa in an effort to convince him to exit the race. Sliwa rebuffed them and remains defiant against mounting pressure from Cuomo and anti-Mamdani New Yorkers. “Let’s be very clear: I am not dropping out, under no circumstances,” he said at a press conference on the Upper West Side on Tuesday. “I’ve already been offered money to drop out. I said, ‘No.’”

Mamdani attacked over imam meeting

• Cuomo and Sliwa are attacking Mamdani over his recent photo of a meeting with Siraj Wahhaj, a well-known imam in Brooklyn.

• The New York Post covered Wahhaj’s opposition to homosexuality and his characterization as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, though Wahhaj was never charged and the list he appeared on was criticized as overly broad.

• Political experts told Jewish Insider that the backlash to Mamdani’s meeting with Wahhaj is unlikely to influence the election amid a generational shift. “Dead cops and firefighters don’t seem to matter much these days,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic consultant who leads an anti-Mamdani super PAC.

• Mamdani has said the criticism is discriminatory. “The same imam met with Mayor Bloomberg, met with Mayor De Blasio, campaigned alongside Eric Adams, and the only time it became an issue of national attention was when I met with him because of the fact of my faith and because I’m on the precipice of winning this election,” he told reporters, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

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