Cuomo: The Dark Prince Returns

(Paperback, New edition)

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As Andrew Cuomo storms back into the spotlight, this sharp political takedown exposes the machinery behind his return-and what it says about power, memory, and the state of New York politics.

Andrew Cuomo was supposed to be finished. After resigning in disgrace-accused by at least 11 women of sexual harassment and facing near-certain impeachment-New York's three-term governor vanished from public view. Now, in 2025, he's back. Cuomo is leading the polls in the New York City mayoral race, poised to reclaim power and write his own second act.

This new edition of The Prince unpacks Cuomo's long, bruising reign as governor and the forces that have enabled his climb back toward the spotlight. Barkan traces how Cuomo, once hailed as a pandemic hero, presided over a staggering public health failure-manipulating data, sending infected patients back into nursing homes, and pocketing a $5 million book deal for his self-mythologizing memoir. Cuomo: Return of the Dark Prince is a portrait of a man who refuses to go away-and a city that might just let him back in.

Reviews

"One of the sharpest state policy minds I know."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

"A writer with real literary flair. Like I.F. Stone, Barkan works independently with a left point of view, but it's his shoe leather, his working the phones and hitting the street, that's invaluable because, sadly, it's so scarce."
Christian Lorentzen

Praise for The Prince:

"A damning political polemic of a controversial administration mired in failed leadership."
Kirkus Reviews

"Theres a brawl shaping up between two books about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo"
Washington Posts Book Club

"Andrew Cuomos narrative whiplash"

Columbia Journalism Review

Author Bio

Ross Barkanteaches journalism at NYU and St. Joseph's College, Brooklyn. He writes regularly forThe GuardianandJacobin, and has contributed to a range of other publications includingThe New York Times, The New YorkerandNew York magazine. Working as a City Hall reporter, he has written frequently on New York state politics, covering Cuomo for the last eight years. His novel,Demolition Night, was published in 2018.