New York Magazine has let go of Ross Barkan, a political writer known for his support of Mayor Zoran Mamdani, due to numerous instances of plagiarism—67 to be exact.
Before his tenure as mayor, Mamdani was Barkan’s campaign manager during an unsuccessful bid for the state Senate, a detail I’ve noted before on Substack and elsewhere.
The magazine initiated a review of Barkan’s work after a Washington Post journalist pointed out similarities between one of his characters and another from Barkan’s earlier piece on the same topic.
In a statement, New York Magazine disclosed that it found 67 columns by Barkan lacking proper attribution, language, or information.
The magazine is in the process of updating these articles to include correct sourcing and is committed to addressing any further issues as they arise.
Moreover, NY Mag indicated that after their investigation, they decided to stop publishing Barkan’s column.
“We regret that his work did not adhere to our editorial standards and sincerely apologize to the original authors affected by this,” the statement read.
Following the initial report by the Washington Post, NPR uncovered more allegations of plagiarism, leading to strong denials from Barkan.
This dismissal came as a blow to writers who had consistently supported Mamdani in prestigious left-leaning publications—a recent piece in The Nation even described Mamdani’s electoral success as “seismic.”
Barkan expressed regret over his plagiarism, acknowledging how significant this issue is in journalism, yet he seemed to suggest that his departure from the magazine was a decision they reached together.
“We have decided to end the column and remain committed to New York Magazine,” he mentioned in his statement.
“In crafting nearly 250 pieces, I did not always focus on citations as I should have,” he continued. “I apologize for this oversight and will work to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
Barkan also mentioned he is writing a new column for The Nation at a more measured pace.
When asked whether The Nation would retain him given the recent allegations, it remains unclear.
His writing credentials include contributions to the New York Times and various fiction and nonfiction works.
He had expressed plans for a forthcoming book focused on Mamdani, who managed Barkan’s campaign for the Queens seat in the New York State Senate back in 2018.
