The Hell Gate Podcast

It's frankly rude that the NYC-DSA keeps winning elections and booting incumbents. It shouldn't be allowed, and until it's outlawed, they better start working on their deep, heartfelt apologies for their damning victories.

Max, Chris, Katie, and Nick hop on the mic to discuss this week's election and what the insulting outcomes mean for politics in NYC moving forward.

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On election eve, we're joined for a special bonus episode with Michael Lange, elections whiz and friend of the show to preview tomorrow's primary elections, share his picks, and give you a taste of what you can expect during tomorrow's Hell Gate primary livestream.

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The Knicks won the championship and Hell Gate reporters spent yesterday morning along the ticker-tape parade of champions, basking in glory, standing in throngs of screaming children and a beaming Karl-Anthony Towns, wondering how much longer they can take this state of unmitigated ecstasy.

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Hug your mom, scream out the car window, put your hand in the cash register, let’s go Knicks. NYC is crawling with cops and the mayor is trying to pretend the World Cup doesn't matter more to him than Knicks in five. Alex and Miguel of Golden Goal come chat with us about the glory and honor of playing soccer in New Jersey.

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A sprawling discussion on the appeal of Zohran’s back-stabbing behavior, the wasian meetup in Central Park, an Ordinary bus, how to be a fan of local music, and why there is no God in New York City. 

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It’s Hell Gate sports talk radio as Max and Julianne “Mad Dog” Escobedo Shepherd take calls from New Yorkers hoping for, concerned about, and entranced by the glory of The New York Knicks.

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Knicks making a deep run to the finals. World Cup in the USA. LIRR Strike. Suspiciously luscious mayor locks? We're going back in time to 1994. Too bad Katie won't be there. 

Heading into a soggy Memorial Day weekend, we talk about Mayor Mamdani's Twitch stream, the Mangionistas and their press credentials, a woman giving birth in Brooklyn criminal court, disappearing SROs, and our aspirations for this summer. 

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For the past year, Hell Gate and Type Investigations have been working the phones, haunting courtrooms, hanging out in strange outerborough political clubhouses, and filing endless requests for transcripts to produce the long-awaited follow-up to the Eric Adams Table of Success, our (first) award-winning collaboration.

Now, please welcome to the stand Courts of Contempt—our investigation into the machinations of New York's broken judicial system. Earlier this month, Hell Gate packed the house at Littlefield in Brooklyn to unveil our investigation, and now you can enjoy that experience as well in podcast form!

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This week, the fragility of billionaires leaves us wondering if it would be OK to get flayed alive. Mamdani’s NYPD protects the sale of stolen land and Albany’s budget is finally announced. Then, a recommendation from Jessy.

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His Royal Majesty came to visit New York City this week, but we’ve got a lot else on our minds. The team updates some judicial happenings and breaks down the latest on Hochul’s endless budget negotiations. 

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A grab bag of NYC happenings this week: Chi Ossé is arrested in Bed-Stuy, super speeders continue to speed, Jessy learns about bats, and Dan Goldman is toast. 

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Hell Gate got eight minutes with the mayor, and the team put their heads together to break down his answers (and non-answers) one-by-one. 

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100 days after his inauguration, Mamdani’s approval is still up—by a comfortable margin. But is this just a honeymoon? The team looks over what Mamdani has accomplished so far and speculate on what might come next. Plus, housing court hijinks, and a recc for a great new NYC film.

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🔥🔥 🔥 HELL GATE HOT TAKE MADNESS # 2 🔥🔥🔥The team defends their final elite 8 hot takes. Should Mamdani start wearing stilts? How should we punish our neighbors who flout the social contract? Is the boob light actually great? Should Mamdani be more like Kristi Noem?

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🔥🔥🔥HELL GATE HOT TAKE MADNESS🔥🔥🔥This week the team defends their visions of the past, present, and future of New York City. Is Kathy Hochul really the best dressed person in New York? Should we bring back NFTs? Late night Rockaway weed ferry? Also, welcome Julianne Escobedo Shepherd to the Hell Gate Podcast!

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Can building new housing actually fix NYC’s housing crisis? Neil deMause joins the pod to discuss the surprising difference between luxury and affordable housing (it’s not just the dog spa and sauna). Then, Katie breaks down the Mayor’s latest efforts to create the Department of Community Safety.

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This week, the NYC news cycle became totally consumed by the fact that Zohran Mamdani is Muslim and so is his wife (who wears turtlenecks! The horror!). The team weighs in on how the mayor keeps having to answer insane questions that have pretty obvious answers. Then, recommendations from Katie, Adlan, and Max. 

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This week, Kathy Hochul weighs whether to represent the general electorate or the millionaires who are speeding through school zones on Ocean Parkway. Then, Jessy reports on the city’s housing indignities and Adlan issues an earnest (colossal) recommendation. 

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This week—the cops get mad about the snowball fight in Washington Square Park, Mamdani gets Trump’s blessing, and a march in Albany without Mamdani goes ok. Then, the children of New York help Jessy Edwards go sledding for the first time. 

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This week: A close look at the psychology of unclaimed dog poop and the political games of politicians. Jessy gives an update on the ongoing sexual assault cases from New York prisons. Then, Adlan makes the case for leaving your apartment and weathering the February air (there are dance parties).

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This week the team is joined by former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, who is currently running for congress in New York’s 10th congressional district. We talk about what his bid could mean for federal lawmaking, and what he thinks of Mamdani’s first few weeks in the mayoralty. Then—a message for all of Hell Gate’s haters. (We’re not mad.)

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Still buried in snow, New York’s politicians are making their moves. What will Hochul’s new running mate mean for the mayoral-gubernatorial good vibes? What are they yelling about up in Albany? Then, a breakdown of how the Mamdani administration is responding to the shooting of Jabez Chakraborty. 

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While the ice floes keep drifting down the Hudson, nurses are still picketing outside hospitals, Luigi Mangione is still in jail, and Jessy’s heat isn’t really working. Meanwhile, the Mayor announced an alarming 12 billion dollar budget deficit, and Katie further cemented her reputation as a luddite.

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This week Michael Lange (Narrative Wars) is back to look down the line at some big political happenings in 2026. Why is Zohran spending political capital on a congressional primary—which is months away—and not on keeping his campaign promises to the schoolchildren of New York City?

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Eric Adams: crypto king. Kathy Hochul: laying off the rich. And Ritchie Torres? He's got a plan to make everything right.

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One week into the Mamdani administration and we're counting some significant wins—on child care and a treacherous bike lane bump at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge—as well as the first major political challenge to his administration. Plus: Why is our former mayor in Dubai with a cosmetic gynecologist? The answer will…probably not surprise you.

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On a frigid New Year's Day, Mayor Zohran Mamdani was sworn into office, and Hell Gate was there to witness the whole inspiring spectacle (and lose feeling in our extremities). The gang breaks down the ceremony, discusses Mayor Mamdani's first executive orders, and lays out some of the last-minute booby traps that outgoing mayor Eric Adams laid for his successor.

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One thing we did a lot of in 2025 that we’ll probably keep up in 2026: eating. This week, social media sensation and generally great guy Scott Lynch—force behind our $20 dinner map—joins us to talk restaurants and food trends in NYC. Want to know what his favorite pick in the five boroughs is? What if you're looking to splurge, where's the best $40 dinner? What's with AI in restaurants? What in the world of food might 2026 bring?

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A little hungover from the Hell Gate rager last night, the team assembles to discuss the last dregs of Adams’ efforts to govern, and the new mayor’s first big oopsie before starting in just a few days. Then, an update on casinos (not good) and the latest efforts to hold cops accountable (also not good).

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This week in NYC news: The UK is installing a new hypercapitalist project in the form of pods, or tubes, or maybe it is an airlock, or maybe a pneumatic network meant to shoot gymgoers onto ellipticals with the force of wads of cash. In any case Jessy and Chris explain how and why PureGym, formerly Blink Fitness, is forcing us into their mysterious tubes. Also, Brad Lander is running for congress. The vibe is Mr. Rogers. Will it work? Probably. Then—Katie attends a hearing featuring local celebrities Richard Kind, Matt Dillon, and Mark Ruffalo, who have unified in de...

The team pulls an Eric Adams this week and leaves the city to go hang out somewhere quaint and European, but hotels are expensive and so are flights, so they end up in Atlantic City (the New York of New Jersey). It's bleak out there. It's giving post-apocalyptic preview of what New York can expect from the parade of casinos coming soon to the metropolitan area. It’s cold, and dad’s not coming home. And he took the dog, too. It’s making us wonder if this is actually the best way to fund the MTA, and why we’re not j...

We’re here this holiday week to mull over NYC’s Thanksgiving highlights and consider the benefits of escaping to Sharlene’s for 5 small beers after your mom tells you “there’s never a ‘good’ time to have kids, you know.” Then, updates on Mamdani’s transition committees and some news about leadership in the city—and whether or not they’ll help Mamdani answer questions like “Where does the NYPD end and federal law enforcement begin?” Truly, kind of a tough one! Finally, Adlan tells us about the beautiful $1,800/month basement apartment he’s so grateful to be signing a lease for.

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What’s going on Mamdani? Getting scared of doing what you said you’d do? Or is big bad Jessica Tisch giving you the creeps? The team is trying to make sense of what you’ve been saying and it’s not quite adding up to the same spunk we saw just a couple weeks back. And how was the meeting with Trump today? Did the fish filet go over ok? We’re betting yes. (Spoiler: Total Mamdani victory—listen to the end of the episode for us reacting to the Oval Office meetup that has everyone buzzing.)

Meanwh...

This week, Max, Chris, and Nick (the boys) discuss the Mamdani transition so far—the incoming first deputy mayor knows where all the (metaphorical) bodies are buried in Albany, while the incoming chief-of-staff is hoping to keep the administration honest to its progressive ideals. Meanwhile, Cuomo’s campaign is transcending to higher and higher planes as they attempt to ret-con the plot of the general election. 

Then: Elizabeth Street Garden is a park now? And should we ban carriage horses? Both of these issues might be 2026 problems.

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Zohran won! The sun rose this morning on a city with a democratic socialist, Muslim, immigrant, shockingly young mayor-elect. The team was up late covering the respective victory and concession parties, and this morning—a bit weary—they rolled out of bed to reflect on the evening and the mayoral race as it came, finally, to a close. What’s next for Zohran? And what does it look like when a progressive candidate doesn’t abandon the political apparatus that got them into office? Will we get to find out?

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This week we have whiz-man, superstar data boy, and mayoral poll vibe-checker Michael Lange to give us the block-by-block for this week’s election. How it’s looking from both the birds-eye and the street-level. Then, the team debriefs about Mamdani’s performance on the stage last week at the live taping of the Hell Gate Podcast.

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On Friday night, just a few hours before the start of early voting, Democratic mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani sat down for an interview with the Hell Gate Podcast in front of a live audience at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. 

During our 45-minute conversation, we grilled Mamdani about his desire to keep Jessica Tisch as his NYPD commissioner, and how he plans to combat attempts to undermine his ambitious agenda.

We also talked about the barrage of racism and Islamophobia that Andrew Cuomo and the anti-Mamdani forces have hurled at h...

Max reports back from the big Mamdani rally, where the candidate got the stamp of approval from some big-time establishment Democrats. Then: Are you confused about the housing ballot propositions you have to vote on soon? Luckily Chris has the breakdown for you, to clear it up completely, with no further questions. We close out with some speculations on what Eric Adams's new gig will be. Full time Cameo star? Green juice king? Hope springs eternal.

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Eric Adams went on a taxpayer-funded vacation to Albania. What? Why? Regardless, we're in favor of it. While Zohran Mamdani is beginning to don the mayoral sash, the team considers whether it seems as though Cuomo is gaining any “Cuo-mentum”—after all, bigger polling gaps have been closed. Then, Jessy Edwards breaks down her reporting that illustrates just how bad a housing crisis the new mayor of our fine city will have to tackle. Daunting. We'd be in Albania as well.

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It’s a cold world, get a sweater. Eric Adams dropped out of the race. What’s going to happen to our beloved mayor? Who is going to take care of the crypto man babies? Who will flag down the wait staff at the Table of Success? We really thought he was in it to win it. The team freewheels a discussion on what’s next for our mayor, and then, for the public good, a watch party of the trailer for the hottest e-book ever self-published about a soon-to-be-former NYC mayor.

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