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Sophie, a 30-year-old social worker at Brooklyn Defender Services, had barely interacted with the org's boss before she was summoned to her office last week. When Lisa Schreibersdorf asked her to lead a union-busting effort, she said she was shocked.

A researcher on the Hindutva movement told me the ads were likely bought with Indian taxpayer money. "[The BJP] has long held these superpower ambitions for Modi, and in the absence of anything real to show for it, they're happy to pay a private, anonymous advertising firm to blast these around."

I tagged along on a tour of NYC rent-stabilized apartments hosted by @emilyassembly.bsky.social for Austrian Vice-Chancellor @andibabler.at, where the Austrian had some frank advice for NY lawmakers (and a warning for his constituents back home)

I told the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet his band's new album is his best yet, and he replied, "we don't necessarily improve as artists. We just don't." hellgatenyc.com/paul-muldoon...

"If you have enough money to book Third Eye Blind and give us free drinks, you can afford to pay your workers." At Instacart’s free concert last week, attendees weighed in on the company’s campaign to block fair wage laws for its deliveristas (set to go in front of the City Council tomorrow)

Eternally grateful to the women who shared their stories for this piece, and for the team that worked so hard to build this story.

Two and a half years and $180,000 later, Aaron Alexis thought he did everything right on his way to opening his own licensed weed dispensary—but an abrupt announcement from the Office of Cannabis Management has left him "hopeless" and stranded in limbo.

A Hell Gate data analysis found the Parks Department cancels tree plantings near NYPD precincts due to cops parking on the sidewalk.

This upstate landfill is New York’s largest emitter of methane; a man-made mountain piled high with trash from NYC & elsewhere. It’s supposed to close at the end of the year. But a billion-dollar Texas-based corporation and the politicians they helped elect are fighting to keep it open until 2040.

More than a century ago, a young, charismatic socialist with the gift of gab decided to run for mayor in his NY town. He campaigned on a platform of affordability: City-run grocery stores, cheap fares for streetcars, taxing the rich, & good government. Sound familiar?

Andrew Cuomo has a new social media team. In the last week and a half, the former-governor's X account—once populated with policy boasts and handshake photos—appears to have been taken over by an acerbic, millennial attack dog.

More than a century ago, a young, charismatic socialist with the gift of gab decided to run for mayor in his New York town. He campaigned on a platform of affordability: City-run grocery stores, cheap fares for streetcars, taxing the rich, and good government. Sound familiar?

“[Cuomo’s new logo] looks like he is copying Mamdani's color scheme. The tag line ‘to build a New NYC’ is odd if you try to say it out loud. It means he is building a ‘New New York,’ which is what New York City is called in the cartoon ‘Futurama.’”

After I interviewed George Santos in May, he sent me a message saying he thought my story made him look like a “slob.” I unpack that, and other complicated feelings about Santos and justice, here:

Rabbi Chanina Sperlin, a powerful player in NYC politics, was ordered to appear at Carl Miller's hearing this week, where his testimony is considered vital to overturning Miller's murder conviction. But the rabbi never showed up. Now, he could be held in contempt of court, fined or even arrested.

The museum of the banality of evil has many rooms and exhibits and its latest acquisition is a stunner: this piece by Liv Veazey which opens on her eavesdropping on some ICE agents in a cafe before following them to their job snatching people at NYC immigration court. hellgatenyc.com/what-ice-age...

One month after the FARE Act—the bill that banned forced broker fees—took effect on June 11, renters are still navigating a housing market rife with confusion and trickery

Terrific article on @bradlander.bsky.social by Jessy Edwards @jessyedwards.bsky.social @hellgatenyc.com Come for the article, definitely stay for the wild interview that has multiple NYers shouting out Brad Lander. @nickpinto.bsky.social @maxrn.bsky.social have a great team at Hell Gate. Subscribe!

Ousmane Traore, 56, a janitor, said he was ranking Cuomo #1 (one word: "experience!") and Lander #2. "I'm glad to participate," he said, grinning, before fist-bumping me and zooming off on his scooter. @hellgatenyc.com

Annabel Sharahy, 29, also ranking Mamdani #1, Lander #2. Raised Muslim in New Jersey, she said she experienced "a good amount of discrimination and Islamophobia." "My mom was originally Jewish, so the fact that he supports Jewish people and Muslim people, it's really cool." @hellgatenyc.com

At PS 73 in Ocean Hill: SJ Derowski, 29, ranked Mamdani first. Then Lander, Myrie, Blake and Adrienne Adams. "The majority of people in this city are working-class people... The whole idea of like, 'Well, if you tax the rich they're gonna leave?' Well okay, so be it. Fuck off!" @hellgatenyc.com

God, now I want a sandwich. hellgatenyc.com/arrigos-ridg...