The New York governor reported earning $3.1 million last year from his leadership memoir, with additional payments coming in the next two years.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo reported earning $3.12 million last year from his memoir about leading New York during the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures obtained by The New York Times and set to be released publicly on Monday. State officials said his contract for the book also included another $2 million to be paid over the next two years. The windfall payment, which dwarfed the governor’s salary of $225,000 last year, followed Mr. Cuomo’s rise to national prominence for televised news briefings during the pandemic’s uncertain early phase last spring, when New York was the nation’s epicenter. But its disclosure arrived as Mr. Cuomo and his administration found themselves in a very different place: mired in multiple overlapping investigations into accusations of sexual harassment by the governor, his handling of nursing home death data and his use of government resources to help write and promote the book. Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor, said Monday that Mr. Cuomo had netted $1,537,508 from the book last year, after expenses and taxes. “From that net income, the governor donated a third to the United Way of New York State for statewide Covid relief and vaccination effort, and is giving the remainder in a trust for his three daughters equally,” Mr. Azzopardi said in a statement. Since its publication in October, the book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic,” has become a minefield for the governor and his publisher, Crown. The publisher canceled promotion and any plans for a paperback version in March, after The Times reported that Mr.