A residential housing project in Bayside, Queens, is winning the support of housing-skeptical Councilmember Vickie Paladino due the threat of a new voter-approved appeals process that could override her objections.

“I’m going to vote yes and maintain some kind of leverage on the project moving forward,” City Councilmember Vickie Paladino told City Limits of the project. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit)

One person’s dream is another’s nightmare.

In Bayside, Queens, a proposal to build 248 apartments—a mix of market rate and affordable homes, plus long term care units for the elderly—is upending the politics of housing development. 

The project is heralded by pro-housing groups, despite strong opposition from Republican Councilmember Vickie Paladino, whose district it’s planned for.

Yet the housing-averse Paladino voted to advance the proposal at 217-14 24th Ave.—which she does not support—under threat of an override from the city’s new affordable housing appeals board, which voters created by passing a ballot measure in November 2025.

Paladino said that the new appeals board, which can override a Council decision that rejects new affordable housing, pushed her to accept a version of the project to maintain negotiating power.

“I’m really not happy about any of this, but this is what the props were designed for—to force our hand on unpopular projects,” said Paladino in a statement to City Limits before Tuesday’s Council meeting. “I’m going to vote yes and maintain some kind of leverage on the project moving forward.”

The plan, approved by the City Council later that afternoon, could signal how new land use procedures in New York City are upending traditional housing politics. Before voters passed three housing-related ballot measures last year, lawmakers would often exercise “member deference”—where the rest of the Council would back whatever decision a local member made about a land use change in their district.

Most Council members were opposed to the ballot measures, which they said would hurt their ability to negotiate benefits for their districts in land use deals.

But affordable housing groups, as well as the Charter Revision Commission that crafted the proposals, said member deference has led to less housing being built, and fewer housing projects ever getting proposed in districts with Council members who do not want new development. 

The ballot measures passed as the city faces its biggest housing shortage in several decades, fueling both rising rents and increased homelessness. 

“These were intended to stop Council members from blocking all new housing out of hand. We’re now seeing that change,” said Annemarie Gray, executive director of the yes-in-my-backyard (YIMBY) group Open New York. “No neighborhood is too rich for affordable housing and here is a Council member who otherwise is saying they would have voted no, who now has to contend with a new landscape.”

The appeals board convenes the mayor, City Council speaker, and borough president, who can advance an affordable housing project that the Council rejects if it has support of two out of three board members. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards expressed support for the project in his own review.

“One of our number one priorities is to build as much affordable housing in every single neighborhood as possible. We made that clear to Councilmember Paladino,” said Council Speaker Julie Menin in a press conference Tuesday.

“It is always better when we can get Council members to be supportive of the project because if it goes to the appeals board that member’s views are really not necessarily going to be incorporated. That particular project made a lot of sense to do,” said Menin.

Under the regime of the appeals board, it appears just the threat of an override might be enough to get reluctant Council members to the negotiating table.

“I think it does change the dynamics around new development, and we’re going to have to feel it out as we go along. I think the goal now is to work towards ensuring new developments are as sensitive as possible to the neighborhood, and if you say yes to the more reasonable projects you’ll have more credibility to say no when something genuinely bad comes around,” said Paladino in a statement to City Limits.

A rendering of the eight-story development planned for 217-14 24th Ave. in Queens. (Credit: BMBT LLC via Department of City Planning)

The eight-story building by Barrone Management and Apex Development will bring 183 units, 55 which will be affordable housing available to households making between $71,000 and $132,000, depending on the number of bedrooms. An additional 65 units will be long term care units for seniors.

A required racial equity report for the project suggested it will further the city’s fair housing goals in a neighborhood that is wealthier and whiter than the city as a whole, and has few existing affordable housing options. Paladino’s Northeast Queens district produced just 51 units of affordable housing from 2014 to 2023, according to data from the New York Housing Conference, ranking eighth of the city’s 59 Council districts.

Paladino said she received many more calls about developments in her district since the ballot measures passed.

“The biggest challenge is going to be helping constituents understand exactly what has changed here,” Paladino said in a statement. “There’s going to be developments happening that would’ve maybe been a hard no from me in the past.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called for more housing production and the creation of 200,000 affordable homes in the next 10 years. “I’m encouraged to see this project advancing, and we’ll have more to share soon about how we plan to use every tool available to deliver deeply affordable housing—faster, at scale, and in every corner of our city,” the mayor said in a statement to City Limits.

More change could be coming as developers and neighborhoods wrestle with the rollout of the new land use procedures voters approved in the fall: last week, a project in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx became the first to utilize an “expedited” land use review process

Next fall, another “fast track” land use review will go live in the 12 community districts that built the least affordable housing.

“This is just the beginning of us really seeing how many new projects are going to get built in a landscape where the balance of power is different,” said Gray.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post NYC’s Housing Ballot Measures Appear to Be Working as YIMBYs Intended appeared first on City Limits.

By DAVID KLEPPER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Central Intelligence Agency offered help to potential informants in Iran on Tuesday, providing Farsi-language instructions on ways to safely contact the U.S. spy agency as President Donald Trump mulls possible military strikes.

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The post is the latest in a series of recruitment pitches in Farsi, Korean, Russian and Mandarin that offered secure ways to contact the CIA. The Farsi-language message posted Tuesday to X, Instagram and YouTube, however, comes at an especially uneasy time in U.S.-Iran relations and as the Iranian theocracy faces new protests at home.

The U.S. has assembled its largest military force in the Mideast in decades as tensions with Iran have risen. Trump threatened military action in January in response to the government’s fierce crackdown on national protests before shifting his focus to Iran’s disputed nuclear program and warning it to make a deal. Another round of nuclear talks is planned for later this week.

In a sign of new unrest in Iran, students held anti-government protests at universities in Tehran on Monday.

“Hello. The Central Intelligence Agency hears you and wants to help,” the agency wrote in the message, according to an English translation. “Here are some tips on how to make a secure virtual call with us.”

The Farsi-language post racked up millions of views within just a few hours.

People drive their motorbikes in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The agency won’t say if earlier recruitment videos have resulted in tips or new sources, but Director John Ratcliffe has said the posts are having an impact.

“Last year, CIA’s Mandarin video campaign reached many Chinese citizens, and we know there are many more searching for a way to improve their lives and change their country for the better,” Ratcliffe said earlier this month when a new Mandarin video was posted.

The CIA’s tips include using a virtual private network, or VPN, to circumvent internet restrictions and surveillance, and the use of a disposable device that can’t easily be traced back to the user. The CIA also urged potential informants to use private web browsers and to delete their internet history to cover their tracks.

Women walk at the shrine of Saint Saleh during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The instructions include ways to reach the CIA on its public website or on the darknet, a part of the internet that can only be accessed using special tools designed to hide the user’s identity. The CIA has also posted similar instructions in Russian.

A spokesperson for Iran’s Mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the new video.

Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report from New York.

The gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team landed at Joint Base Andrews and visited President Donald Trump at the White House before attending his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

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Forward Matthew Tkachuk posted pictures on social media of members of the team celebrating on what appears to be a U.S. government plane and a group shot of them deplaning.

The U.S. beat Canada 2-1 in overtime on Sunday at the Milan Cortina Olympics. It was the Americans’ first gold medal in men’s hockey since the “Miracle on Ice” group won in Lake Placid, New York, in 1980.

The team received a State of the Union invitation from Trump following the game. A video that circulated on social media appeared to show Trump inviting the team on a phone call in the locker room, as he joked that he’d also have to invite the women’s team, which also won gold over Canada.

The women declined, citing scheduling issues.

The men took a chartered plane to Miami on Monday night before traveling to the nation’s capital in the morning.

Videos and photos of the team’s White House visit were shared on social media by Trump administration aides. Team members posed for a photograph in front of the South Portico after they arrived. They also walked along the West Wing colonnade where Trump has posted portraits of every U.S. president just steps away from the Oval Office, where they were welcomed by Trump.

As they approached the Oval Office, some of the players popped into the press office’s open door to flash their medals. Staffers applauded and shouted, “We love you!”

“I recognize every one of you. I know every one of you,” Trump said as the players entered the Oval Office, which he has redecorated with numerous flourishes of gold that matched the players’ medals.

“Big guys,” he said, standing near his desk and shaking hands with the players, who wore dark tops with “USA,” the American flag and the Olympic rings on the front and light colored pants.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Ryan Jeffers has long believed that his body could handle the rigors of an increased workload behind the plate. Now, it seems he’ll finally get his chance to prove it.

Ryan Jeffers #27 of the Minnesota Twins poses during the 2024 Minnesota Twins Photo Day on Feb. 22, 2024 at the Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

For the past three seasons, the Twins have been committed to splitting the workload between Jeffers and Christian Vázquez evenly, alternating between the two to keep each fresh. But Vázquez’s three-year contract expired after last season, and now Jeffers, coming off what he called his “smoothest offseason” from a health standpoint, is ready to become the Twins’ No. 1 catcher.

“Every year, I’ve grown up in this game,” Jeffers said. “I’ve gotten better at the routine and what I do in the offseason to prepare for the year. I’ve always prepared to catch a full workload, so nothing for that really changed for me this offseason.”

With Vázquez gone, the Twins first brought in Alex Jackson in a minor trade and later signed Victor Caratini to a two-year deal. But while Caratini has plenty of major league experience, the Twins don’t seem to be planning on going back to the set-up they’ve used in recent years.

Hours before the Twins brought in Caratini, manager Derek Shelton called Jeffers to give him some assurances.

“Jeffers is going to be the C1,” Shelton said last month. “We’ve talked to Victor about it. The thing we thought about there is get a guy we think … is going to play behind Ryan, but he can also play first, he can also DH.”

Jeffers got a little taste of that last season when Vázquez had an infection in his shoulder and ended up on the injured list and he caught 21 games in August. But his chance to show that his body could adapt to the added workload was cut short in early September by a concussion that forced him to the injured list, too.

“My body arguably felt better some of those days than it did when I was catching every other day,” Jeffers said. “Physically, it felt really good. … I felt great and was playing well. The body was not struggling at all. Over 162 (games), how does that change? I’m not sure.”

Jeffers said he has prepared himself to catch 120 games but doesn’t expect that to happen. Last year, he played in 119 games, 88 of them at catcher. He caught right around 700 innings last year; 120 games would be roughly 1,080 innings caught, a number eclipsed last year by only Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto and Milwaukee’s William Contreras.

Instead, Jeffers is shooting for somewhere in the range of 105 to 110 games, which would be two thirds of the season. He has gotten a fair share of his at-bats at designated hitter in recent years, which should continue this year.

“That’s who I am, is a catcher,” Jeffers said. “A full catcher workload is 110-ish games, so if I want to be a full-time catcher, that’s where I want to be.”

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