Jessy Edwards

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All They Want Is a Landlord Who Doesn't Suck And more news for your Wednesday.

A ceiling collapse in a Crown Heights apartment over Thanksgiving weekend is the latest sign of neglect inside buildings owned by billionaire Joel Wiener’s Pinnacle Group.

Now, tenants are intensifying their calls to halt the current bankruptcy auction of 93 rent-stabilized Pinnacle buildings.

NYC Is on the Cusp of a Casinopocalypse A state board recommended to approve three casino licenses—two in Queens, one in the Bronx.

New York City, which currently has no full-scale casinos, is one step away from building three multibillion-dollar gambling complexes within 10 miles of each other.

Wow, President Trump Fucking LOVES This Mamdani Guy Asdfjasdfjlsakdfsdhfsodfh;asdfasdf

Nothing can possibly do justice to the incredible body language on display here—Mamdani's rigid spine, his hands clasped tightly to prevent them from punching a hole in the Oval Office window and jumping out of it, Trump repeatedly touching Mamdani's arm, smiling at him like the son he's never had.

Three NYPD Cops on the 2025 Mayoral Race: 'I Like That Mamdani Is a Dreamer' Forced overtime, cronyism in the C-suite, and a rising attrition rate are some of their biggest concerns for the next mayor of New York City to address.

Two of these NYPD cops told me they hate their jobs because of the forced overtime and endless calls to deal with homelessness and mental health issues. They hoped Mamdani could help fix that.

Screencap of Hell Gate livestream with Max Rivlin-Nadler in the studio at left and Jessy Edwards, wearing a lavender beret and smiling while speaking into a clip-on microphone in an event hall.

The great @jessyedwards.bsky.social is reporting from the Curtis Sliwa election party for @hellgatenyc.com in a tasteful beret of her own! www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKA4...

I hope you’re right about that!

Haha! Glad to share my beret collection with the viewers! Thanks for the kind words @joshuajfriedman.com

"Stubbornly idealistic" independent local journalism that's owned & run by the people working there? Yes! We love this work so much that Ruth Ann personally gave @hellgatenyc.com support for a dedicated podcasting studio, which they're naming The Ruth Ann Harnisch Studio. Join us in supporting them!

Hell Gate Goes Live on Election Night! Here's how to watch Hell Gate's live coverage of Tuesday's general election results, whether you're at home or out on the town.

Where will you be tomorrow night when the NYC election results come in?

Perhaps at a bar with your friends.

Perhaps at home in the dark, bathed in the faint, unearthly glow of a screen.

Wherever you are, @hellgatenyc.com will be by your side.

hellgatenyc.com/election-nig...

Daily News Union Finally Comes to Terms With Hedge Fund Overlords The 105-year-old NYC tabloid is hanging on. And more news for your Monday.

Exclusive! After 3 years sparring with their billionaire owners for a union contract, workers at the @nydailynews.com are finally on the precipice of inking a deal—and clawing back some of what they’ve lost since hedge-fund vampires took over the paper in 2021.

Taxi TV Is MAGA Now New York City taxi riders are now served conservative news segments during their trips.

As of this month, the TVs in NYC taxis are now playing national news from Newsmax—the ultra-conservative outlet known for pushing baseless election fraud claims.

Curb, the company that controls what's on the screens, announced the collab late September.

Blink and You’ll Miss It: PureGym Is Upon Us New York's most egalitarian gym closes its eyes for the last time.

My favorite writers also happen to be my @hellgatenyc.com colleagues. RIP Blink Fitness.

These Bronx Tenants Lived Six Weeks Without Water and Power. The City’s Fix? A Vacate Order The plight of the Ramos family reveals the weaknesses in the City's system to protect tenants from unlivable conditions—and from being put out on the street.

This Bronx family went 6 weeks with no running water, gas or power. Instead of using all the tools at its disposal to restore the utilities, the City's HPD told them to leave.

An incredibly frustrating case illustrating how some NYC families are falling through the cracks.

Subscribe to @hellgatenyc.com, support worker-owned local journalism, and get your Spooky Bookstore Opening news days before right-wing corporate media publishes it with an “exclusive”tag!

hellgatenyc.com/twisted-spin...

Boss of Brooklyn Defenders Charged With Shockingly Sloppy Attempt at Union Busting "She was like, 'Once you inevitably execute and are successful in this plan, of course you would be union president.'"

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.

What's Up With Those Weird Narendra Modi Birthday Ads on LinkNYC Kiosks? A mysterious Dubai-based company apparently paid for the ads.

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."

Leaders of Vienna, an Oasis of Affordable Housing, Tour NYC’s Grim Offerings Austrian Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler had some advice for New York lawmakers after seeing the city's rent-stabilized apartments up close.

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 Think Paul Muldoon's Rock Music Has Improved. Paul Muldoon Disagrees 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."

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...

How Instacart Spent Its Summer Vacation: Fighting a Fair Wage Law and Throwing a Third Eye Blind Concert As the City Council prepares to override Mayor Eric Adams's veto and close the "Instacart loophole," the company is waging a PR blitz.

"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)

Special investigation: He went by 'Champagne' on Rikers Island. Here's what 24 women allege he did. - Online Journalism Awards Read More

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

He Staked Everything on His Legal Weed Store—Then New York State Pulled the Plug When New York legalized recreational cannabis sales in 2021, Aaron Alexis thought he did everything right—but a sudden change in state policy has placed his business plan in limbo.

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.

No Shade: Illegally Parked Cop Cars Are Why We Can't Have Nice Trees A Hell Gate investigation reveals that the Parks Department has canceled tree plantings near NYPD precincts where cops park on the sidewalk.

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

1,500 Tons of NYC Trash Every Day—For Another 15 Years? A Seneca Falls landfill—which is the state's largest emitter of methane—is supposed to close at the end of the year. But a Texas-based trash corporation and the politicians they helped elect are fight...

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.

How a Fiery Socialist Mayor Captured the Hearts of New York Voters—in 1911 Union College professor Andrew Morris tells us what Zohran Mamdani could learn from George Lunn's successes—and failures—as a four-term mayor of Schenectady.

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?

Morning Spew: Cuomo Tries to Sh*tpost His Way to Victory The former governor has a new online persona, and a new housing policy. And other news for your Monday.

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.

How a Fiery Socialist Mayor Captured the Hearts of New York Voters—in 1911 Union College professor Andrew Morris tells us what Zohran Mamdani could learn from George Lunn's successes—and failures—as a four-term mayor of Schenectady.

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?

NYC Designers Review Cuomo's and Adams's Rebrands Two mayoral candidates unveil (strangely familiar) rebrands. And other links for your Wednesday.

“[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.’”

I Can't Stop Thinking About George Santos Liar, grifter, political showman, mirror to some of our political contradictions—I cannot get enough.

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:

A Powerful Rabbi Could Help Carl Miller Clear His Name. But He Refuses to Show Up to Court. Rabbi Chanina Sperlin saw a different man running from the scene of the murder in 1979, but he won't come to court to tell a judge that now.

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.