SCREW IS COMING BACK — NEW YORK NEEDS IT MORE THAN EVER!
SCREW launched a GoFundMe to get the new print version off the ground after a 22 year hiatus. And they have someone who will match dollar-for-dollar every donation.
If you lived in New York City during SCREW’s heyday, you already know.
If you didn’t… well, let’s just say SCREW wasn’t just a magazine — it was an institution. The New York Times once called it “America’s Most Notorious Magazine.”
Bold. Brash. Outrageous. Unafraid to poke fun at the powerful, to lampoon hypocrisy, and to say what polite society wouldn’t. For decades, SCREW was the city’s loud, unapologetic voice of sexual freedom and cultural satire — founded in 1968 by one of the City’s most legendary personalities, Al Goldstein.
Now — in 2025 — it’s time to bring it back. Not just as nostalgia, but because the city needs it again.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Bringing a print magazine to life — even one with SCREW’s legacy — isn’t easy. It’s a Catch-22:
- Advertisers want to see a finished product before committing.
- But we need funding to create that first issue to show them.
Your support will break that cycle and cover:
Producing rate cards, marketing materials & ad contracts so our commission-only ad rep can start closing deals.
Administrative stuff (if any) – including setting up a new LLC in NY or any licenses and permits we might need to distribute
Paying artists & writers (and wait until you see who’s on board — you’ll recognize the names).
Layout & Pre-Press — setting up the paper, designing the ads, etc.
Printing & distribution of the first run — a minimum of 60,000 copies to select locations across the five boroughs.
THE NEW SCREW
Here’s the vision:
FREE in New York City — available in bars, coffee shops, bookstores, adult venues, and more.
Low-cost subscription outside NYC so fans everywhere can get their fix.
Standard tabloid size (11.25″ × 17.5″), printed on high-quality newsprint with full-color on the covers and the center four pages.
Monthly (for now) with the potential to increase frequency as the audience — and ad base — grows.
A revival of legendary SCREW features like:
- Dirty Diversions
- Stuff From The Past
- The Sh*t List
- Naked City (offering free events listings for adult venues in and around NYC).
Essentially, the new SCREW will be a who’s who and a what’s what of New York’s nightlife and adult entertainment scene — and a sharp, funny, unfiltered look at the city itself.
WHY PRINT, AND WHY NOW?
Print matters.
In a time when online publishing faces increasing censorship, legal risks, and intrusive age verification systems, print offers something digital can’t:
Safety.
Security.
Anonymity.
With print, there’s no algorithm deciding who gets to see your work. No shadow-banning. No data trail. Just ink on paper in your hands — and a message that’s impossible to delete.
WHO’S BEHIND THIS
I’m Phil Italiano, and I’ve been in newspaper and magazine publishing for over 25 years. My background includes:
Composing & production, pre-press, press operations.
Ad sales, marketing, and distribution.
Staff positions at Journal Register, Troy Record, Daily Gazette (Schenectady), and Beachcomber Magazine (South Florida).
I’ve maintained the SCREW digital magazine for over a decade, and before that, I launched the SCREW TV Roku channel with Al Goldstein himself, right before he passed away.
This isn’t a vanity project — it’s my life’s work. And I’ve selected a talented team of artists and writers to help make it happen.
WHEN WILL THE FIRST ISSUE DROP?
There’s no hard release date — we publish the moment we’ve raised enough. Once the first issue is out, we’ll have the leverage to sell advertising into the next, creating a self-sustaining cycle.
Your contribution gets us to that starting line.
BE A PART OF NYC HISTORY
When SCREW returns to print, it won’t just be a magazine — it’ll be a statement.
A middle finger to censorship.
A love letter to the city that birthed it.
And a platform for art, writing, and voices you won’t hear anywhere else.
Help us put SCREW back where it belongs — in the hands of New Yorkers.
Fine print: The new SCREW will be edgy, provocative, and filthy — but not X-rated, making it suitable for free public distribution in NYC and compliant with all current publishing laws.
