The Prince

July 5, 2021
In this excoriating takedown, journalist Barkin (Demolition Night) argues that praising New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic is akin to commending Nero for fiddling while Rome burned. Barkan critiques the media for boosting Cuomo’s image, but reserves his harshest judgments for the governor himself, an “arrogant, vengeful, and megalomaniacal” leader who fostered a political culture that “favored dominance over competence.” The controversy over Cuomo’s March 2020 directive ordering nursing homes to accept Covid-19 patients is examined, as are the revelations that his administration “severely undercounted” nursing home deaths and pushed to grant legal immunity to hospitals and nursing homes. But the most eye-opening sections delve into the ways in which Cuomo’s budget cuts and reluctance to raise taxes weakened New York’s ability to contain the pandemic. The recent sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, which occurred in the “media vacuum” left by the end of the Trump presidency, might be what finally brings him down, according to Barkan. Enriched by the author’s deep knowledge of New York politics and sharp parsing of facts (he notes, for instance, that denser cities around the world had significantly lower death tolls than New York City), this exposé delivers a knockout punch. Agent: Susan Golomb, Writers House.

June 1, 2021
The heights and depths of a tumultuous governorship. In this corrective to Cuomo's cherry-picked account of his (mis)management, American Crisis, veteran journalist Barkan, who has covered Cuomo as a journalist at City Hall for eight years, urgently chronicles the governor's crushing fall from grace amid the relentlessly grim backdrop of the virus. In lucid, declarative prose, the author cites numerous incidents that have contributed to the deterioration of Cuomo's administration, beginning with a State Attorney General's report in early 2021 demonstrating that "his Department of Health had severely undercounted nursing home deaths." This contradicted previous declarations that New York was at forefront of Covid-19 containment. Then came allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct from six women, including several former aides. Barkan dissects the Covid fiasco in a clear timeline showing the spread of the virus across America on the heels of the Trump impeachment proceedings. The author acknowledges that though the governor would never be as beloved as his father, Mario, he garnered widespread admiration for his initial "management" of the growing pandemic. Dubbing his subject a "deft tactician," Barkan recounts Cuomo's early disbelief in the lethality of the virus, before he enforced strict quarantine measures as infections skyrocketed. His attempts at damage control--e.g., touting minimal infection rates and low elderly mortality counts during press briefings--backfired, however, as a federal probe discovered startling statistics that contradicted Cuomo's proclamations. In conclusion, the author digs further back into the administration to reveal missteps he believes directly contributed to the catastrophe, including deep cuts in health care spending, tax hikes, and the closings of "hospitals that could have treated patients in the outer reaches of New York City as the coronavirus first struck." Based on original reporting and expansive interviews, this slim, scathing book convincingly debunks Cuomo's "false narrative of triumph" and, in exacting detail, reveals the corrupt side of present-day New York government. A damning political polemic of a controversial administration mired in failed leadership.

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