Gov. Cuomo got $5.1M for COVID book despite nursing home deaths
Gov. Andrew Cuomo — whose controversial directive for nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients has been tied to as many as 1,000-plus deaths — sold the rights to his best-selling pandemic memoir for $5.12 million, according to tax returns he made public on Monday.
The amount exceeds the $4 million-plus figure that was reportedly the top offer for Cuomo’s “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which was published in mid-October as the public health crisis still raged in New York and elsewhere.
Cuomo’s contract — which he got despite his administration being accused of sending COVID-positive patients back into nursing homes, potentially spreading the deadly virus among the vulnerable elderly there — paid him $3.12 million last year and he was left with a little more than $3 million after legal and editing expenses, according to his tax returns.
Tracey Alvino, whose dad, Daniel, was infected with COVID-19 in a Long Island nursing home and later died, called Cuomo’s literary earnings “blood money.”
“These resources could have been used to fight the pandemic instead of giving him a payday,” Alvino said.
Cuomo is under investigation for his handling of the nursing homes during the pandemic and efforts by his administration to cover up total COVID deaths among the elderly patients, which hover at nearly 14,000.
He’s also set to receive another $2 million this year and next, the returns show.
The book quickly became a best-seller last year after Cuomo’s televised pandemic briefings turned him into a media figure beloved by self-proclaimed “Cuomosexuals.”
But the sales tanked when he became embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal involving several former aides earlier this year.
As of Monday morning, it had only sold around 48,000 print copies in the US, according to NPD BookScan.
Based on that figure, Crown Publishing paid Cuomo around $107 per copy sold of the hardcover book, which has a suggested retail price of $29.99.
New copies were available on the Amazon website at a cut-rate price of $13.54 each and an auction for a new copy on eBay had just one bid, for a measly $1.99, plus shipping.
In February, Crown Publishing stopped promoting the book and said there were “no plans” to reprint it or release a paperback version, citing a federal probe into his administration’s “reporting of Covid-related fatalities in nursing homes.”
That move followed The Post’s exclusive revelation that top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa privately told Democratic lawmakers that administration officials hid the total death toll from the public due to a potential federal probe.
“There is no question the governor violated numerous state laws when he covered up our families’ nursing home deaths to make millions,” said Vivian Zayas, founder of the Voices for Seniors advocacy group.
“Our parents died alone during the height of COVID-19. It’s time the Governor is held accountable for hiding their deaths during a pandemic so he could grow rich.”
Danielle Messina, whose dad, Samuel Arbeeny, died of COVID-19 in a nursing home in April 2020, said, “Cuomo made money off our dead loved ones.”
“It’s such a slap in the face to us,” Messina said.
“Cuomo needs to give that money to the families of nursing home residents who died from COVID — with an apology.”
According to his tax returns, Cuomo donated $300,000 to the United Way last year.
The governor’s accountants said he also gave the charity another $200,000 but won’t be able to write it off until next year due to a “wiring issue.”
Cuomo had pledged to donate a portion of his earnings to a coronavirus-related charity but never elaborated on how much or who would get it.
Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi said in a prepared statement that the governor gave the rest of his book profits this year to his daughters with ex-wife Kerry Kennedy: Cara Kennedy-Cuomo, Mariah Kennedy Cuomo and Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo.
“Net income from the $3,120,000 million payment less expenses and taxes is $1,537,508,” Azzopardi said.
“From that net income, the Governor donated a third to the United Way of New York State for state-wide COVID relief and vaccination effort, and is giving the remainder in a trust for his three daughters equally who worked with the Governor during this pandemic and did what he calls ‘tireless and effective work for all New Yorkers’ and gave him ‘the strength and love to make it through the crisis every day.'”
Azzopardi said he didn’t have details on the trust, but Cuomo set it up as “irrevocable” — meaning the terms can’t generally be changed. It “may bring about transfer tax benefits” by removing the money from his estate before his death, according to advice posted online by US Bank.
“Contributions to the trust are generally subject to gift tax requirements during your lifetime,” the webpage says.
“However, if certain conditions are met, assets placed in this type of trust (and appreciation on those assets over time) will be sheltered from estate tax after your death.”
In addition to the federal probe, Cuomo is facing investigations by Attorney General Letitia James and the state Assembly’s Judiciary Committee the sexual harassment allegations and a report that he used state employees to help prepare and promote his memoir.
“Since the publisher was paying him $5 million, he could have bought a computer and printer and hired some staff instead of glomming state resources,” tweeted Bill Hammond of the Empire Center for Public Policy.
The Empire Center, a conservative think tank, sued the Cuomo administration for records related to nursing home deaths from COVID-19 and used the data to determine the potential impact of the Health Department’s March 25, 2020, order for the facilities to accept infected patients discharged from hospitals.
State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) said in a prepared statement: “The fact that Governor Cuomo lined his own pockets with more than $5 million while thousands of New Yorkers were dying horrific deaths is a national disgrace.”
“At a minimum, he should not be profiting from what was an inappropriate, and possibly criminal, undertaking,” Ortt said.
“In the meantime, every dollar of this book’s proceeds should be donated to a charity that benefits front-line workers and the families of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.”
The head of the liberal Working Families Party — which called on Cuomo to resign over his sexual harassment scandal after he successfully ran on its ballot line in 2010, 2014 and 2018 — called the details of his book deal “further confirmation that he is unfit to lead.”
The party’s director, Sochie Nnaemeka, said in a statement that Cuomo had “covered up the truth and left our seniors in harm’s way in order to make millions.“
“Governor Cuomo’s $5.12 million book deal makes clear: the Governor values his personal wealth more than the lives of everyday New Yorkers,” Nnaemeka added.
In response to those remarks, Azzopardi said, “The governor worked night and day to save lives and lead New York out of this crisis. Lord knows where they were.”
Azzopardi declined to comment on the criticism from the relatives of COVID-19 victims.
Mayor de Blasio, the governor’s perennial downstate rival, weighed in on the book controversy Monday night.
“I can tell you what I think it was, I think it was state-sponsored literature,” de Blasio said on NY1.
“This guy clearly depended upon public employees to do a lot of the work. And that’s not acceptable.”
