The Nation is reviewing work by lefty columnist Ross Barkan after he was axed by New York Magazine on Friday for ripping off other authors’ work dozens of times.
In a statement that notably lacked contrition, the Mayor Mamdani-loving author previously downplayed the plagiarism and boasted he was starting “a new column for The Nation,” adding that he would take “a more considered pace.”
But a Nation rep told The Post on Monday there are no plans for him to start a column — and the mag is reviewing stories he’s written for the publication since 2019.
“We are conducting an internal review in the wake of New York’s announcement,” the spokesperson said, clarifying that Barkan “is not under contract to write a column for The Nation.”
The writer did not return The Post’s requests for comment.
The New York Times, where Barkan scored a number of bylines, told The Post it reviewed Mamdani’s work but didn’t find anything shady.
“Ross Barkan has no contributor affiliation to either The New York Times Magazine or Times Opinion,” a Times spokesperson said. “He hasn’t written for Opinion since July 2025 or for the magazine since January 2025. Times editors have looked at Barkan’s past work for us and found nothing that violates our standards.”
The Post also reached out to The Atlantic and The Guardian to ask if they are reviewing his work, too.
The New York Magazine probe was sparked when a Washington Post reporter noticed strong similarities between the lead of one of his articles and the lead Barkan wrote about the same subject in May.
As NPR unearthed additional plagiarism allegations — drawing an angry denial from Barkan — New York mag launched its review.
At the end of the four-month process, New York said it was parting ways with Barkan.
New York said it found 67 of his columns “that did not include proper attribution of language, information and/or sourcing.”
The publication said it was updating those pieces with proper attribution and is “committed to addressing any other instances that come to light.”
“Upon conclusion of the review, we have determined that we will no longer publish his column,” NY Mag added.
“We regret that his work did not live up to our editorial standards, and apologize to the writers whose work was not appropriately attributed.”
The prolific Barkan appeared to blame the plagiarism on working at a frantic pace.
“In the course of nearly 250 pieces, there were times I should have been more careful with my citation,” he said Friday.
“I’m sorry about these errors and will work to do better, more careful work in the future,” he added. “I am, at a more considered pace, writing a new column for The Nation.”
Barkan is widely viewed as one of Mamdani’s biggest boosters in city journalism, regularly praising the democratic socialist on his Substack and other outlets.
The writer regularly bashed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, penning a book on him, and once ran for state office himself.
Mamdani was Barkan’s campaign manager in his failed 2018 run for a Brooklyn seat in the New York State Senate.
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