Publisher Suspends Ross Barkan’s Zohran Mamdani Book After NY Mag Plagiarism Claims

Publishers have halted the release of Ross Barkan's forthcoming biography on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani due to allegations of extensive plagiarism in Barkan's New York Magazine columns. The promotion and public sales for the book "The Revolutionary: Zohran Mamdani and the Remaking of American Politics" have been put on hold, with webpages for the book no longer accessible on major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.

The biography, which was slated for publication in October, aimed to provide a behind-the-scenes look into Mamdani's campaign and his early years as mayor of New York City. Barkan, who has known Mamdani since 2018 when Mamdani was campaign manager for Barkan's unsuccessful bid for the New York State Senate, has not yet responded to requests for comment.

The Washington Post first reported the news, with Barkan's relationship to Mamdani dating back to 2018. New York Magazine suspended Barkan's column last week following an independent editorial review that found 67 of his columns failed to meet the publication's standards for proper attribution. In a statement, the magazine expressed regret for the work's failure to meet its editorial standards and apologized to writers whose work was not properly attributed.

Barkan has been accused of using language and reporting from other journalists without proper attribution or citation. NPR correspondent Bobby Allyn and Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell identified that Barkan had used language that resembled their reporting without credit. In response, Barkan acknowledged his errors in a statement, stating that he will work to improve his citation practices in the future and is writing a new column for The Nation.

Barkan has written two political nonfiction books and four novels, with his latest column for The Nation focusing on Mamdani's relationship with the police commissioner.