The Hell Gate Podcast

We mark the return of the Hell Gate podcast with a special two-part episode about our new project THE ERIC ADAMS TABLE OF SUCCESS, an interactive website exploring dozens of people who are in the mayor's orbit, their connections to each other, and why it all matters.On part one, a roundtable of Hell Gate writers discuss Eric Adams's connections to the world of business, who's who in his campaign, and who he parties with.Stay tuned for part two coming early next week, and be sure to check out the whole project here.Happy holidays, from Hell Gate! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Daily News reported a few weeks ago that Whitestone Lanes was closing, it was like a mighty redwood was being chopped down. The Flushing bowling alley has been a neighborhood gathering place since the 1960s, and in the age of upscale bowling joints built for corporate expense accounts, Whitestone is one of those no-frills, all-charm spots that truly are for everyone. So this week, Hell Gate hit the lanes to hear how bowlers feel about the impending loss of one of the last bowling alleys in Queens.Plus: Hell Gate writer-editor Adlan Jackson brings his Leave Your Apartment column to the pod, talking with Screen Slate founder Jon Dieringer about New York's thriving indie film scene and a trashy B-movie you won't want to miss. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did what started as Instagram drama around two missing rescue cats spiral into a NYPD and ASPCA raid—and 44 charges of charges of animal neglect—that rocked New York City's cat rescue community? Hell Gate writer-editor Katie Way takes listeners behind the scenes of her recent investigation into animal altruism gone wrong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the Department of Motor Vehicles unveiled its design for a new license plate celebrating New York City, the first of 10 regional license plates to be released this summer. But instead of dipping into New York's inexhaustible iconography, the DMV settled on a design that has the vibe of what can best be described as a "subway ad for a for-profit college," featuring a phallic One World Trade towering over a tiny Statue of Liberty. The plate is objectively bad and ugly—but what if that's the point? What if the plate, as Hell Gate's Adlan Jackson wrote this week, is another artifact (along with the reviled We <3 NYC logo) of the city's current expensive, contemptuous "Age of Design Apathy?" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New York's beaches kicked off the summer season over the last month with plenty of wind, sun, nutcrackers, and an extremely limited number of lifeguards. As the Parks Department revealed earlier this spring, the City currently has roughly a third of the lifeguards needed to fully open the City's beaches and pools. The lifeguard shortage isn't new—the City struggled last year to hire enough lifeguards before the summer season, waiting months to take action and raise pay to entice the part-time employees to get back in the tower.Knowing full well that this would be an issue heading into the summer, City Hall worked to make the lifeguard test easier and less opaque, and redoubled outreach efforts to high schools to get people into training programs. But the new push only yielded 200 new lifeguards, and just 280 returning lifeguards. So what's standing in the way of the city hiring lifeguards? Is it part of a national phenomenon, or is this way more of a local issue? While New York City's Park Department, which runs many of its beaches, is way below its hiring goals—adjacent beaches, run by the National Parks Service, or the state, are doing just fine—and don't plan on closing any stretches. So what gives? Are we just going to live with limited pool hours and closed beaches forever? Hell Gate went to the Rockaways to find out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last spring, the Adams administration began talking about the arrival of migrants into the City’s shelter system—and promised that New York would step up where other cities wouldn’t. But more recently, the mayor has started busing asylum seekers upstate, claiming that the migrant influx has “destroyed” the city and will cause deep cuts to its social services. How has migration, which has been at the core of NYC’s identity for so long, become a headline issue, and why has the Adams administration taken such a dramatic turn? Felipe De La Hoz and Gaby Del Valle, who write the immigration policy newsletter Border/Lines, join us to discuss these questions and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ah, Memorial Day weekend. Time to hit the beach and crack open a nice cold can of...Celsius? That energy drink from the bodega?! From the drink of the summer, to the song(s) of the summer, our taste-making staff is here to guide you on what's in (speed dating) and out (barefoot boys) for summer 2023.Hell Gate's songs of the summer:"Summer Glass," Julie Byrne"Mrs. Officer," Lil Wayne"I Wanna Sex You Up," Color Me Badd"Breezin'," George Benson"Everywhere," Fleetwood Mac Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As anyone who's whizzed down the Williamsburg Bridge bike path past sullen J train riders will tell you, biking in New York is not only a great way to save $2.75—it's also just... fun. But, we're still a town ruled by cars. And while cycling rates exploded during the pandemic and Citi Bike can barely keep up with demand, we're also on track to have the deadliest year for cyclists since 2014. This week: Hell Gate visits a neighborhood reeling from another senseless traffic death, investigates a bizarre Citi Bike malfunction, and even sends two staffers to learn to ride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In case you haven't heard, Hell Gate turned one this week! So of course we hosted an extremely real and cool birthday party which we obviously recorded for our weekly podcast. Hear from the staff about why we started and joined Hell Gate, some of our favorite stories from our first year, and the current status of our involvement with the Hell Apes™ crypto-collectible platform. You'll NEVER believe who calls in.If you love Hell Gate and this podcast, help us reach our $7k in 7 days goal by tipping our newsroom here by noon on May 15. And you can subscribe to Hell Gate anytime here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New York state FINALLY has a budget—a month late, and 800,000 housing units short. New York Focus senior reporter Sam Mellins sits down with Hell Gate to break down what the hell happened this budget season, from the death of Good Cause Eviction to horse-racing industry subsidies (???) to the best bathroom in the state capitol. Plus, we take you inside this week's rowdy Rent Guidelines Board hearing, where housing activists took the stage to protest the board's proposed rent increases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.