Can you believe Hell Gate has been around for a year? We can't believe it, either! Since we launched last May, we've published hundreds of blogs, investigations, and columns—so many, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track.
In honor of our first full rotation around the sun, we're sharing some of our favorite stories to-date. Join us on a trip down memory lane (and then, if you're inspired by all these good blogs and thinking, "Wow, I need more Hell Gate in my life," feel free to leave us a birthday tip—help us get to our goal of $7K in seven days).
"As I creep towards middle age, the things that younger people do and say become more mysterious, and more fascinating. This analysis of how new arrivals to New York City are bending time-honored place names (accelerated by real estate and TikTok) is both funny and somehow poignant." —Christopher Robbins
"This story and all of the follow-up stories Nick did epitomize the 'Hell Gate gets results' thing that makes me really believe in this whole project." —Katie Way
"Having a fear reaction that makes you book it to the other end of your railroad apartment that is the result of a tiny critter is such a universal New Yorker experience, and the epitome of why we love and hate our beautiful city. I couldn't stop chuckling about and sharing the story all week." —Nadia Tykulsker
"This was the OnlyFins where I realized that it wasn’t enough for Esther to have identified urban fishing as a reliably quirky and amusing column topic, but that she was actually a restless genius now determined to bend and expand that form in completely unexpected ways, using it—in this instance—to explore the racially skewed enforcement that sends people to (checking my notes) 'Manhattan Fish Court.'" —Nick Pinto
"I really admire Chris's handling of the Maddrey/clergy story; very deft." —Adlan Jackson
"This, to me, is the perfect Hell Gate story—uncovering a strange reality in NYC (fish in the basement of a decrepit hospital next to the ocean??) while also telling the story of people who are fighting to keep their slice of the city, one that they've carved out for themselves over decades." —Esther Wang
"Hell Gate's guiding editorial light is inspired by the narc-y 'If you see something, say something' PSAs, but it's really more like, 'What the fuck is up with that?' I think this story by Willa Glickman perfectly captured an absurd and unacknowledged thing happening to all of us (being forced to look at disgusting and disturbing recipe videos on the subway) and asked the very important question, WHY? The answer, it turned out, is way more disturbing than I thought it would be." —Max Rivlin-Nadler.
"Someone once told me that a prerequisite for being a good investigative journalist is a low threshold of indignation, and by that standard, Chris is the best investigative journalist alive, as this rage-fueled public records crusade over the price of airport sandwiches confirms." —Nick Pinto
"This is the kind of piece any writer wants to come away from an experience like this with." —Adlan Jackson
"An in-depth but light-hearted look at an actual problem facing a wonderful subculture? With one of the best quotes you will read all year? This story has it all!" —Christopher Robbins
"I loved this story because it asks a question that a lot of us have probably wondered at some point, and then answers it in the most charming way possible." —Esther Wang
"The long 2020…I don't know man, I don't think we've left it. Whatever broke down in our brains, the psychic impact will probably be around for a very long time. People were going down some truly wild rabbit holes. Jacob Silverman revisited all this for Hell Gate in searing detail and Mattie Lubchansky's wonderful illustration is just so funny and good." —Max Rivlin-Nadler
"I'm sure everyone will pick this one, but I distinctly remember talking to a friend and her ex about how cool I thought this specific blog/Hell Gate was and how much I wanted to apply if you all ever posted job openings. In retrospect, fan behavior." —Katie Way
"After a deeply depressing week, I was so grateful to read this article that not only further reported on the failures of the current political environment in NYC but also shed light on how people on the train car experienced what they were seeing." —Nadia Tykulsker
