Lily Belle Poling
Staff Reporter
@lilybellepoling | lily.poling@yale.edu
Lily Belle Poling covers housing and homelessness and climate and the environment. She is also a production and design editor and lays out the weekly print. Originally from Montgomery, Alabama, she is a sophomore in Branford College majoring in Global Affairs and English.
Author Archive
LILY BELLE POLING & MAIA NEHME
New Haven sues Trump administration for ‘illegal federal overreach’ on sanctuary cities

Mayor Justin Elicker announced New Haven would join three West Coast jurisdictions in a lawsuit against the Trump administration to protect welcoming and sanctuary jurisdictions from overreach.

February 10, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
Lamont, Elicker serve up new initiatives in celebration of apizza, National Pizza Day

The governor and the mayor announced a wave of upcoming promotions to celebrate Connecticut’s vibrant pizza culture.

February 9, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING & KADE GAJDUSEK
City leaders praise, acknowledge limits in Elicker’s housing goals

In his State of the City address, Mayor Justin Elicker reemphasized that housing is one of his top priorities, setting a goal to build 10,000 new housing units in the next 10 years.

February 4, 2025

ARIELA LOPEZ, MAIA NEHME, ETHAN WOLIN & LILY BELLE POLING
State, local leaders balk at Trump’s federal funding freeze

A White House budget office order to pause a litany of federal grants and loans sent New Haven recipients scrambling.

January 29, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
“A bold initiative”: City, state leaders announce $2 million federal grant to mend highway harm

The U.S. Department of Transportation grant will fund studies on mitigating the impact of I-91 — which spliced many of New Haven’s neighborhoods in the early 1960s.

January 27, 2025

ZACHARY SURI & LILY BELLE POLING
Tenants union renews push for state eviction protections

At a press conference on Thursday, the Connecticut Tenants Union announced a new campaign for just cause eviction legislation with the endorsement of key lawmakers.

January 26, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
“No one’s left on the street”: Shelters open to all during frigid temperatures

Connecticut’s severe cold weather protocol, which Governor Ned Lamont activated Sunday night, makes sure everyone who seeks shelter has a place to go.

January 22, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
New Haven to host national bipartisan housing conference

DesegregateCT, a coalition of nonprofits committed to solving the housing crisis, was selected to host the national YIMBYtown conference.

January 21, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING, KADE GAJDUSEK & SABRINA THALER
New Haveners, Yale students occupy City Hall in protest of encampment sweeps

Members of the Unhoused Activists Community Team marched through City Hall, demanding that New Haven adopt better policies regarding the treatment of its unhoused citizens.

January 17, 2025

TOMMY GANNON & LILY BELLE POLING
Not done yet: Men’s hockey alumni go pro around the world

Yale has multiple alumni playing professional hockey around the globe. The News spoke with three recent alums about their rookie seasons and their time at Yale.

December 6, 2024

LILY BELLE POLING
Tenant union protests Farnam Realty over maintenance disputes

Tenants from 1455 State St. say the realty group has not addressed mold, heating issues, leaks and “exorbitant” electricity bills. Farnam disputes the claims.

December 4, 2024