LOVETT: Seven of Gov. Cuomo’s top aides earn more than him 

ALBANY — It pays to work for Gov. Cuomo.

Seven of Cuomo’s top aides all earn more than the governor’s $179,000 annual salary. Five are women.

Cuomo budget director Robert Mujica makes the most — $199,547.

Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's top aide, makes $196,526, according to payroll data provided by the state Controller's Office.

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That's the same as her immediate predecessor, Bill Mulrow, but significantly higher than the $181,560 Cuomo's long-time secretary Larry Schwartz made before leaving in May 2015, and the $166,000 Steve Cohen was making before Schwartz, the data shows.

After DeRosa, Cuomo's chief of Staff, Linda Lacewell, and his chief counsel, Alfonso David, each make $194,244.

For Lacewell, who recently returned to state service and last week testified at the federal corruption trial of former longtime Cuomo aide Joseph Percoco, her salary is up 8% from what she made in a different role before she left the administration in June 2016.

A Cuomo veteran dating back to his days as state attorney general, Lacewell's salary is also significantly higher than the $175,000 paid to her chief of staff predecessor, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie aide Maria Comella.

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Meanwhile, Cuomo’s executive deputy secretary Jill DesRosiers makes $190,435, while his deputy director of state operations, Kelly Cummings, is paid $185,711 annually.

Cuomo's new state operations director, Cathy Calhoun, makes $183,040, the same same as her immediate predecessor, Jaime Rubin. It's also nearly 3% higher than James Malatras, who gave up the role in early 2017, and 8.2% higher than the $169,100 predecessor Howard Glaser was making when he resigned in 2014.

It's significantly more than the $171,666 her immediate predecessor, Jaime Rubin, was getting, but the same as James Malatras, who left the post in early 2017.

Told of the salaries for Cuomo's top staff, one Republican, mocking Cuomo's hard-charging reputation as a boss, said "I'm sure they definitely earn it."

While the governor, his agency commissioners, the lieutenant governor and state lawmakers have gone without a raise since 1999, payroll data show many of Cuomo's top aides have seen their salaries go up considerably in recent years either through promotions or straight raises.

David's salary has jumped 12.6% from the $172,482 he was paid when first promoted to chief counsel in April 2015.

Without commenting directly on the specific salaries, E.J. McMahon, of the Empire Center, an Albany-based fiscal think tank, said the salaries of the governor and many of his staff could actually be considered low.

He noted that Mayor de Blasio and his top staffers make far more than their state counterparts. De Blasio’s new salary is $258,750, while First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan makes $271,136 and de Blasio Chief of Staff Emma Wolfe earns $227,000.

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Cuomo has lost another top staffer. James Allen, who became Cuomo's communications director in December 2015, quietly left his $171,000 job last week, according to state payroll records.

Allen is moving to the Port Authority as the chief of staff to Vice Chairman Jeffrey Lynford.

Before working for Cuomo, Allen served as then-Newark Mayor Corey Booker's chief spokesman, and vice president of communications and strategy at Mic, a media company that focuses on millennials. Cuomo has not yet named a new communications director.

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Staten Island Republican state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, who lost to Mayor de Blasio in November, says she's backing her Assembly GOP leader, Brian Kolb, for governor.

"I know him as a leader," she said. "I think he has really provided smart alternatives to what the progressives in our state are offering."

Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra has also declared his candidacy. Senate Deputy Majority Leader John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) is expected to formally announce he's running on Tuesday or Wednesday. Mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, Malliotakis said she isn't interested in a 2018 statewide run.

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A state Assemblywoman planning to run for a key vacant Westchester County state Senate seat, is being accused by political foes of being a hypocrite when it comes to the issue of sexual harassment.

Shelley Mayer has been outspoken on the issue, but foes note that in 2012 she publicly defended then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver when he was under fire for his handling of sexual harassment incidents involving then- powerful Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

"I am a total supporter of the speaker as a leader," Mayer said at the time. "As someone who lived through some very difficult times in the Senate, I know how difficult leadership can be. I think he has exhibited great leadership."

A Republican critic on Friday called her "a hypocrite and a fraud who only stands up for women when it's politically convenient."

Mayer spokesman Doug Forand called it "ridiculous that the party of Donald Trump and Roy Moore would attack Shelley Mayer after a lifetime of being a strong advocate for women."

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The Percoco trial may be causing consternation behind the scenes, but Cuomo publicly has sought to project an air of business as usual.

Cuomo spent much of last week in Albany, out of sight. But his office was busy churning out releases on everything from attacking Washington Republicans and announcing executive orders pertaining to the flu and net neutrality, to local issues like upstate ice jams.

Cuomo dealt with the media just once on a conference call, when he announced with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut a planned lawsuit to block the federal tax act. He also said he doesn't believe the trial will hurt him.

"He's got to move forward; he's got to show that he's active," said Baruch College Public Affairs Prof. Doug Muzzio. "He's trying to give a sense that he's unconcerned. At the same time, he's running a governor's race."

State GOP spokeswoman Jessica Proud said while Cuomo wants to change the subject, the trial has already yielded troublesome information.

She noted that Lacewell testified that Percoco, who is accused of accepting bribes from companies with business before the state, continued to come into his old government office at times after leaving the state payroll to run Cuomo's campaign.

Asked about the issue Friday, Cuomo, citing the trial, said "it would be highly inappropriate for me to provide commentary at this time."