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The Hell Gate Podcast

The Hell Gate Podcast
Author: Hell Gate
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Local dispatches, analysis, and conversations from New York City’s worker-owned, subscriber-funded news outlet. Subscribe: https://hellgatenyc.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
75 Episodes
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It’s a cold world, get a sweater. Eric Adams dropped out of the race. What’s going to happen to our beloved mayor? Who is going to take care of the crypto man babies? Who will flag down the wait staff at the Table of Success? We really thought he was in it to win it. The team freewheels a discussion on what’s next for our mayor, and then, for the public good, a watch party of the trailer for the hottest e-book ever self-published about a soon-to-be-former NYC mayor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bluestockings, home of narcan training polycule meet-cutes and queer activist utopian prefiguration, has shuttered its doors effective immediately. Meanwhile, District 2’s CEC meetings have finally given in to the anger of parents trying to keep their trans kids safe—although it seems like the plot may be teed up for a sequel showdown… and in Brooklyn, perhaps the sloppiest union busting job of all time reminds us incompetence can sometimes be good, and, very funny. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Kathy Hochul has finally endorsed Zohran Mamdani. Brad Lander was arrested again at the immigration courthouse. The wheel keeps turning in New York City and even the billionaires are throwing tantrums. The team breaks down how the money flow is making the march toward casinos seem unstoppable. Meanwhile, happy birthday Modi? Why are you in my fridge? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Life's a game, but it's not fair. I break the rules, so I don't care. Eric Adams is running for office, and into Hell Gate at the gym. Did he fumble his chance to be ambassador to Saudi Arabia? With his stock dropping fast, his media appearances are as weird as ever. Meanwhile, the team checks in on Mamdani, to find that he seems to be inching toward the center on the NYPD, with Jessica Tisch potentially still waiting in the wings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Eric Adams is up to something. While everyone else was getting back to work this week in our fine city, Adams was in Florida. Doing what exactly? Could he be dropping out? To vacation indefinitely at Mar-a-Lago? To cruise in first class, riding high off oil money from Saudi Arabia? To take selfies with celebrities and smash champagne flutes on the deck of a cruise ship filled with crypto bros? With just a few weeks left in the race, Donald Trump and his associates are meddling as much as they can in NYC politics to tip the scales. What is going on not-so-behind-the-scenes? Join us as we speculate wildly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this end-of-summer special, the gang calls in from their Italian villas and Fire Island cabins to look back on our hellish summer in New York. What were you doing when Trump was bombing Iran? Some of us were on boats, watching Shakespeare, swimming in sewage, or DJing sweet beats. Then, reporter Arielle Gordon breaks down the clown renaissance taking our fine city by storm, and reminds us all to be a little more stupid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, some breaking news: A bag of potato chips (sour cream and onion), a pantsuit, and a bike lane are making us wonder what the hell is really going on behind the scenes in NYC politics. The Adams crew continues to cook up bribery and corruption, and we are here to feast at the table. Though, all things being equal—as we’ve established—seafood is always a good deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Andrew Cuomo is leaning so hard into twitter he’s falling off. Millennials posing as Zoomers posing as Cuomo are taking on Mamdani and Mamdani is responding in turn. The team takes apart some of the false arguments getting tossed around, and despite the heat, nothing is sticking. Then, the Summer Youths make it rain thanks to the Parks Department, Katie breaks down what’s hot at the Rockaway Film Festival, and the team discusses an important controversy: What is an OK food to eat on the MTA? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our city's fine rats are bathing in fountains and tanning on lily pads, Cuomo and Trump are reportedly gabbing it up, and Elizabeth Warren is back on CNBC to dish it out against our raging billionaires. It's the dog days of summer and the anti-Mamdani coalition cooked up a new set of logos but it doesn’t seem like anybody is quite hitting the mark. Then, the team interrogates the biases in John Catsimatidis's "Mamdani Policy Impact Calculator" and find that you can't argue with a "crime cost increase." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A mass shooting in Midtown earlier this week left four dead, and one of the victims was a cop. True to form, Cuomo and corporate media have taken this as a cue to attack Mamdani for his stance on the NYPD, and, similarly true to form, totally miss the point. The team unpacks how the shifting demographics of voters in the city—and its cops—complicate the cookie-cutter picture they’ve been painting for the past few decades. Then, a billionaire zoom call makes the team wonder if it’s ok to spend $300 on an oyster platter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The team talks about the Trump administration's escalating pressure on our fair city, beginning with Columbia University's massive, humiliating settlement. Was it worth it, Columbia? Which then brings us to the federal government suing the Adams administration over New York City's sanctuary policies—how is Mayor Eric Adams reacting to Tom Homan finally being "up his butt"?Then, our intrepid correspondents discuss a Phish show they saw at Forest Hills Stadium this week. Listen if you dare! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We begin with the obligatory unpacking of Trump/Epstein and soon move on to our own local sex pest attempting to make a comeback using Zohran Mamdani’s social media strategy. Katie breaks down why Curtis Sliwa is neither the hero Gotham needs nor deserves, but why he should stay in the race anyway... And finally, Max wraps up the pod with a saucy surprise… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Failing New York Times is at it again, digging into the depths of Mamdani’s college applications and collaborating with a eugenicist to… what end exactly? This week the team talks race, and unrelatedly, why Sid Rosenberg is so red. (Is it because John Catsimatidis is making him that way…? Maybe.) The anti-Mamdani coalition is mustering its forces, and Mamdani is fielding it all. Finally, we ponder whether police commissioner Jessica Tisch might have a place in the Mamdani administration, or if she'd be a liability in the long run. Join us for a breezy one from the burgeoning socialist utopia that’s New York City. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The ranked choice ballots have been counted and Zohran Mamdani’s win is even more decisive. Now that we’ve entered the valley between the primary and general elections, what is the landscape looking like? The team digests the state and country’s (mostly racist) immediate reactions to Mamdani’s primary win, and considers who in the field is worth really paying attention to. Meanwhile Adlan gets a mysterious email tip to come down to a supermarket street corner, and Trump continues his fascist escalation in NYC. Happy 4th, Hell Gate readers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The editors gather in the early morning to commiserate and lick their wounds over Cuomo’s tragic loss… How did we get here? How could a democratic socialist run a campaign in this city and win? We’re kidding, the Mamdani campaign threw a perfect game, and rewrote the electorate. Last night the team was running around the city covering the election—at watch parties for Adams, Lander, Cuomo, and Mamdani—all with radically different vibes. A bit groggy but with spirits high, we speculate on what Mamdani’s win could mean for the general election come November, for politics moving forward in this city, and (highly speculatively) for the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The election is underway and the team is tossing and turning. Pre-debate polls still show Zohran Mamdani losing, and meanwhile Cuomo is on TV, his Dodge Charger is blocking NYC traffic, and his super PAC is flexing anti-Zohran ads into every gym and sports bar and laundromat in the city. Meanwhile Brad Lander got arrested by federal agents —and was given critical support by the coalition of candidates that, in this election cycle, seem to finally be coming together against Cuomo (sorta). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, the editors can’t help but hash out the state of the race—early voting opens up this Saturday, June 14th. Cuomo may have taken a beating this week from Brad Lander at the second mayoral debate, but the poll margins are extremely tight. Still, Cuomo is characteristically absent from spin rooms, spaghetti dinners, and our good graces. It’s hard to divine what might happen now. Are TV ads better than grassroots campaigns? Do protests even do anything? Will the NYC elite cabal band together against change? (Almost certainly.) Maybe we’re lost in the sauce, but please come simmer alongside us for a while. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week we unpack the latest craven twist in the mayoral dogfight—the first cross endorsement of the race… for Andrew Cuomo… from Jessica Ramos. Yes, Ramos who questioned Cuomo’s “mental acuity” and referred to him as “the Democratic Party's Trump.” A few blocks away from the endorsement, ICE agents clad in masks and hoods continue to lead asylum seekers into vans, and transport them to this administration’s immigration-gulag-archipelago. Max breaks down the mechanics and the consequences of ICE’s movement in Downtown Manhattan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, the editors discuss Mamdani’s new poll numbers, and whether ranked-choice voting will really coax rival candidates to finally team up. Will the underdogs manage to band together against asteroid-like candidate Cuomo? (Yes, we discuss the 1998 film Deep Impact.) Also, what the hell is going on with Eric Adam’s crypto-lifestyle? Why is he in Vegas? And what does this have to do with the SoHo kidnapping? Then, Chris Robbins brings us to the scene of this past Wednesday’s ICE raid at an immigration court on Varick St., where asylum seekers were kidnapped and taken out of state. Thank you to The CITY’s Gwynne Hogan for the audio featured in today's episode. Full clips can be found on bluesky here, and here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week the team talks over some of the business you’d rather not have to wade through: Andrew Cuomo’s appearance on the Bari Weiss podcast, which, for better or worse, is probably the longest we’ve heard Cuomo speak since the pandemic. And the latest in the long line of indignities that the tiny institutional body of the CCRB has weathered trying to hold cops accountable in NYC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.