The founders of Hell Gate, Nick Pinto, Esther Wang, Christopher Robbins, Max Rivlin-Nadler, and Sydney Pereira, began developing the idea for the publication in 2021.[4] Many of them were former coworkers at New York City publications such as the Village Voice, The New York Times, and Gothamist, as well as non-New York publications such as Jezebel and The Intercept.[4] Pinto, Robbins, and Rivlin-Nadler had all faced job instability as journalists due to companies mismanaging resources, lacking funding, and cutting budgets.[7] In January 2022, they pitched the idea of Hell Gate to fifty local journalists[who?], and recruited Pereira and Wang.[7] The team decided that their publication would have a snarky tone like pre-acquisition Gothamist, and that they would approach stories from a human rights-oriented perspective.[3]
Hell Gate launched the website as a test on May 2, 2022, and launched in full two months later.[8]
Business model
Hell Gate's initial funding came from two New York-based organizations for the arts: a $25,000 grant from The Harnisch Foundation, and a $50,000 grant from the Vital Projects Fund.[3] A further $300,000 in grants was given between 2023 and 2024.[9] It supports its journalism with tiered subscriptions to access its articles behind a paywall.[3] The founders believed that a subscription-funded business would work.[4][10]As of September2025[update], the site had 9,000 paid subscribers making $70,000 per month, accounting for two-thirds of revenue, and costs around $81,000 per month to run.[1]
To keep costs down, they wrote from home and published online,[4] using the same provider as Defector Media, another worker-owned cooperative.[3]
Hell Gate reporters interview Zohran Mamdani on Oct. 24, 2025. From left: Jessy Edwards, Pinto, Robbins, Mamdani, Katie Way, Adlan Jackson, and Rivlin-Nadler.
Hell Gate is a worker-owned cooperative, where the journalists have the job of reporter, editor, and managing the business,[3][4] with aid from an marketing and external relations manager and an operations and finance manager.[1] They also hire freelancers.[7]As of September2025[update], all reporters were paid $75,000 per year.[1] The company offers tiered[11] and annual subscriptions.[3] As of November 2025, Hell Gate said it was profitable, expecting to earn approximately $850,000 in revenue in 2025.[12]Hell Gate also offers free newsletters, with tens of thousands of subscribers each.[1] Advertisements are a minor source of revenue.[13][9][14] A third of its revenue comes from donations,[14] down from half in 2024.[11]
Reception
Hell Gate has been identified by several outlets to be part of a resurgence in indie publishing. They have been favorably compared to other worker-owned sites like Defector and 404 Media.[2][6][15]
The New York Press Club awarded its 2024 annual journalism award in the category "Political Reporting – NYC Metro" to "The Eric Adams Table of Success,"[16] a collaboration between Hell Gate and Type Investigations.[17]
1 2 "Hell Gate 2024 Annual Report". October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024. As of October 10, we have 5,368 paid subscribers to our website; 20,840 subscribers to our bi-weekly Inbox Hell newsletter; and 19,856 subscribers to our new daily Morning Spew newsletter (both of which are free).
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