Cuomo: The Dark Prince Returns

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.

Ross Barkan teaches journalism at NYU and St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn. He writes regularly for The Guardian and Jacobin, and has contributed to a range of other publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker and New 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.