LEAD YOUR FORMER BOSS'S REVENGE CAMPAIGN

When Andrew Cuomo was governor, was his right hand. With an eviscerating new book, she’s settling scores and prepping a comeback

- Rebecca Traister

THREE CENTRAL questions about power are how to get it, how to wield it, and what to do when you lose it.

The story of Melissa DeRosa, chief lieutenant to former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, traces all these stages and is particularly revealing about that third act, which she is currently performing. Her new memoir, What's Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis, is billed as her chance to tell her version of the downfall of her old boss, who resigned in 2021 after the Office of the New York State Attorney General found he had sexually harassed 11 women, nine of them his employees. It is a rare document: While we are used to former officials writing about their time in government, these are not typically officials whose bosses have stepped down in disgrace.

For those not steeped in Cuomo lore, DeRosa may seem like a mere bureaucrat. But for those who reported on or crossed the administration and experienced her wrath firsthand, she is an infamous figure, not the power behind the throne but power’s steely right hand. Cuomo ruled Albany through intimidation and fear, and DeRosa rose so high in the governor’s orbit in part because of her facility for his baleful style of communication. As many have described over the years, when DeRosa spoke—often in haranguing tones—it was as if she were channeling him.