The problem with your interpretation is that it's the same information
The first 18 lines on the NY return is the same as the federal return, and line 18 even says: "This is your federal adjusted gross income".
But, setting aside that argument -- an interesting thought just occurred to me:
Back in September, Baquet said he would risk jail to publish this information. The article speculates whether he already had this in hand.
What if he got trolled by Trump -- who sent this information to the NY Times after Baquet's comments, knowing they couldn't resist. Now, he has Baquet by his private parts.
Here's why I'm suspicious: the NY Times wouldn't have taken this bait if they couldn't authenticate it. So, they went to Trump's former accountant -- who apparently didn't hesitate to do so.
My father was a CPA. He would have never offered that information without explicit authorization from a client. It's a violation of their code of professional conduct.
See it as you prefer. I disagree, but you'll get no discussion from me.