He wrote "NYC", a twice-a-week column on New York City, from 1995 to 2011. In 2009, he was part of a "Times" team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News, awarded for coverage of the prostitution scandal that led to Eliot Spitzer's resignation as New York governor. In his April 8, 2011, column, entitled "One Last Attempt to Explain New York City", he announced that it would be his last "NYC" column. In May 2011, he began writing a column called "The Day" for "The New York Times" online "City Room" blog. That column ended in January 2013, and he began a new series of interviews for the "Times". In 2014 he began writing an online series for the "Times" called Retro Report, linked with video documentaries exploring the long-term consequences of major news stories from the past. In 2017, he joined the Times editorial board.