Immanuel Wilkins was riding the Amtrak from New York to Philadelphia when he got a call from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. But he said he had to wait to deboard the train to find out if it was life-changing news or not.

The Brooklyn-based saxophonist, bandleader and composer hesitated to believe they were calling to say he was part of their prestigious fellows class. He spent the last 15 minutes of his ride convincing himself they only wanted his recommendations.

Happy Thursday in New York City, where if you live in one of these 12 districts, expect some jackhammering, scaffolding and construction crews in your future.

City officials have identified 12 districts in the city that produced the least amount of affordable housing relative to their overall housing stock over the last five years. The Brooklyn neighborhoods, which include Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Borough Park, Kensington, Flatlands and Canarsie, will, come January, be subject to an expedited housing review process to facilitate quicker affordable housing development.

Only 1% of the city’s new affordable housing since 2021 came from these 12 districts.

“If we want to be a city that helps undo the patterns of segregation, that makes sure that New Yorkers have choice about where they live, we can’t concentrate affordable housing in just a handful of neighborhoods,” said Department of City Planning director Sideya Sherman in a statement yesterday.

The fast-track review process was first proposed by a city charter commission convened under Mayor Eric Adams and approved by voters last November. Mayor Mamdani has built on that effort by promising to build 200,000 units of affordable housing in the next decade.

Not everyone agrees with the approach. Some council members have expressed concern that the new process weakens their bargaining power with developers, including their ability to negotiate for deeper affordability and changes to the proposed projects. Others argue it reduces local autonomy over development decisions.

“You are removing local input and the opportunity to shape these projects to fit the needs and the unique character of each community,” Council Minority Leader David Carr told City Limits.

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People are increasingly turning to AI for advice. A 2026 Pew report found that 10% of Americans are using chatbots for emotional support or companionship. Some even find a charismatic leader in AI.

More broadly, a large-scale study of 1.1 million ChatGPT conversations found that 49% of the messages involved users seeking “information or advice” to help them be “better informed or make better decisions.”

Their questions are not just about ordinary practical matters. In 2021, Ask Delphi, an AI-based website to which people could pose ethical or moral questions, received 3 million queries in a few weeks. The system’s designers – researchers at the Allen Institute for AI and the University of Washington – said they did not intend it to be a moral authority but worried that users might see it that way.

Read on to learn more.

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