The ultimate source for The New York Times’ story about Zohran Mamdani’s college application is an open secret. On X, the alleged hacker is followed by New York Times freelancer Benjamin Ryan, who was the first byline on the Mamdani story. Three of them, as first reported by Bloomberg, targeted the University of Minnesota, New York University, and Columbia University. This does somewhat undermine any remaining claims to “hactivism.”At NYU, the Anime Nazi hacked the university’s actual website over spring break. For more than 20 years, admissions officers have put “a thumb on the scale to get boys,” as The New York Times puts it.