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
IN PHOTOS: Thousands gathered on the New Haven Green and downtown streets for national “Hands Off!” rally

April showers did not stop roughly 2,000 people from convening Saturday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

April 7, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING & ELIJAH HUREWITZ-RAVITCH
Thousands rally in downtown New Haven in national anti-Trump demonstration

On Saturday afternoon, locals gathered in the New Haven Green before taking to the streets to protest the Trump administration, demanding they take their “hands off.”

April 7, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
A historic number of students live off-campus. The exodus may be straining an already competitive local housing market

Yale College currently has 524 empty beds. Yet more than a quarter of undergraduates choose to live off campus, driving housing competition in surrounding neighborhoods.

April 3, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
Connecticut invests heavily in waste management, New Haven receives millions

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection awarded $3.3 million to the Elm City to get started on a citywide residential curbside composting program.

March 28, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
New Haven scores new semi-pro soccer team

New Haven United Football Club will begin competing against other amateur clubs in the National Premier Soccer League this May.

March 27, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
Local organizations win $9 million for new affordable housing, social services

Four local organizations received more than $9 million in grants from Connecticut’s Community Investment Fund this month, largely to support affordable housing and social services […]

March 23, 2025

ETHAN WOLIN & LILY BELLE POLING
New Haven sues Trump administration over climate funds freeze

With over $30 million in environmental grants in jeopardy, New Haven joined a coalition of five other cities and eleven nonprofits to sue the Trump administration over the potential withholding of appropriated federal funding.

March 23, 2025

JANICE HUR & LILY BELLE POLING
New Haven joins legal effort against federal cuts to medical and public health research

The city joined 44 other cities in filing a joint amicus brief Thursday opposing the Trump administration’s recent reductions in federal research reimbursement.

February 23, 2025

MAIA NEHME & LILY BELLE POLING
“Endemic” home break-ins trigger increased city security measures

In the wake of a harshly cold winter, a recent wave of intrusions by homeless individuals into New Haven-owned properties has raised safety concerns.

February 19, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING
CT Tenants Union looks to take housing ownership into its own hands

By establishing a community land trust, members of the tenants’ union can essentially become their own landlords and set rent at affordable levels.

February 16, 2025

LILY BELLE POLING & TOMMY GANNON
MEN’S SOCCER: Blue and White to Green and Blue — Presthus signs with Hartford Athletic

The United Soccer League’s only Connecticut club announced the signing of the All-Ivy League defender on Wednesday.

February 12, 2025