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 local publications such as the Village Voice, The New York Times, and Gothamist, as well as non-NYC 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, 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]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 is a worker-owned cooperative, where the journalists have the job of reporter, editor, and managing the business.[3][4] They also hire freelancers.[7]As of September2025[update], all reporters were paid $75,000 per year.[1] The company offers tiered[10] and annual subscriptions,[3] but the subscription revenue is not enough to be sustaining, as of October2024[update].[5]Hell Gate also offers frees newsletters, with tens of thousands of subscribers each.[1] Advertisements are not a major source of revenue.[11][9] Half of its revenue comes from donations.[10]
Reception
Hell Gate has been identified by numerous 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][12]
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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