Why? In their words:
The New York Times reports on stories all over the world, and our reporting is read by people around the world. Some readers choose to use Tor to access our journalism because they’re technically blocked from accessing our website; or because they worry about local network monitoring; or because they care about online privacy; or simply because that is the method that they prefer.
The benefit to you, o Western reader, is that you get to read the paper for free. No paywalls. Whether you respect the Times is irrelevant to this post. I’m only spreading awareness.
You will need Tor. Once you have it, their onion is found here:
https://www.nytimesn7cgmftshazwhfgzm37qxb44r64ytbb2dj3x62d2lljsciiyd.onion/
I also used the link you posted. It loaded but was still paywalled. :( But I am using Onion Browser on iOS. So maybe it is something Tor browser is doing and not because their .onion site lacks the paywall.