Morning Headlines: Andrew Cuomo Leads NYC Mayoral Poll Without Running, NJ Population Growth Surges, and NY Public Library Acquires Jhumpa Lahiri Archive

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Speaker 2: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City, from WNYC. It's Tuesday, January 14th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: A new poll shows Andrew Cuomo leading the New York City mayoral primary, even though the former New York governor has not entered the race. Mayor Adams is already trying to play up his differences with Cuomo, including the fact that Cuomo got his start in politics working for his father, former Governor Mario Cuomo.

Mayor Adams: When you look at some of the people who have ran office, they inherited empires. I didn't. I inherit empire. I had to start from the bottom and now I'm here.

Michael Hill: The poll of the nonprofit Progressives for Democracy in America shows 32% of likely Democratic voters pick Cuomo as their favorite candidate. Adams came in at 6%. Cuomo resigned in 2021 amid sexual misconduct allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing. His spokesperson declined to comment. The US Census Bureau says New Jersey is outpacing neighboring states population growth. WNYC's Phil Corso reports new data show a significant climb in residents and jobs.

Phil Corso: New Jersey leads the Northeast in year-over-year population growth, adding over 120,000 residents in 2023. The state's population now stands at 9.5 million, its highest ever, with growth ranking 10th nationwide. Federal data also shows New Jersey has a record 4.4 million jobs. New York gained nearly 130,000 residents between 2023 and 2024, mostly from international migration, but the state lost many to domestic migration.

Michael Hill: The New York Public Library will host the archive of award-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. The library recently acquired 31 boxes of Lahiri's work. She's known for her books such as the Pulitzer Prize-winning the Interpreter of Maladies and the novel The Namesake. Curator Carolyn Vega says she's most impressed by the stories that now 57-year-old Lahiri wrote as a child.

Carolyn Vega: Jhumba Lahiri had a really incredible journey as a writer that started as a child where she would fill notebooks or partially fill notebooks with stories and other works of fiction.

Michael Hill: The archive will include manuscripts and drafts of Lahiri's published and unpublished work to date, early notebooks showing her interest in translation, and more than 250 letters from fellow writers like Amy Tan and Jennifer Egan. 30 and clear right now. It's chilly out there. Sunny today and right at the freezing mark for a high with the wind chill just above the teens. Gusty once again, strong winds up to 26 miles an hour. Tonight, cold once again in the 20s and then sunny 33 tomorrow. Gusty but feeling once again as cold as the teens.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.

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