An adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been suspended after giving a journalist a bag of potato chips with cash hidden inside.
Winnie Greco, 62, once the director of Asian affairs at City Hall, handed a bag with cash to Katie Honan, a reporter for The City, on Wednesday.
Greco reportedly texted Honan to meet her inside a Whole Foods store after they both attended the opening of Adams’ campaign headquarters in Harlem.
Initially, upon receiving the chip bag, Honan assumed Greco was offering a snack and mentioned she couldn’t accept it, but Greco insisted, as per the report.
Honan later discovered a red envelope with a $100 bill and several $20 bills inside. She contacted Greco, explaining she couldn’t accept it and requested to return it.
Greco said they could meet later but then stopped responding, the report said. She later called back and asked them not to do a story.
The news outlet reported that Greco then called into their office and told them: ‘I try to be a good person’.
According to Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, the incident has been exaggerated and was meant as a symbolic gesture of ‘friendship and gratitude’.
Winnie Greco, as seen here, offered the bag containing money to Katie Honan, a reporter at The City.
Honan later found a red envelope inside the chip bag, seen here, with a $100 bill and several $20 bills
Brill said: ‘This was not a bag of cash. In the Chinese culture, money is often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude.
‘And that´s all that was done here. Winnie`s intention was born purely out of kindness. She knows the reporter and is fond of her.’
Speaking with The City on Wednesday night, Greco expressed: ‘I’m very sorry. It’s a cultural issue. I’m not sure. I don’t fully understand. I’m so sorry. I feel really bad now.’
Adams’ reelection campaign said it had suspended Greco from further work as an unpaid volunteer and that Adams had no prior knowledge of Greco’s actions.
Aide Todd Shapiro added: ‘We are shocked by these reports. Mayor Adams had no prior knowledge of this matter.
‘He has always demanded the highest ethical and legal standards, and his sole focus remains on serving the people of New York City with integrity.’
A spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Investigation said they had been made aware of the incident and declined to comment further.
The newest incident is the latest in a long line of issues marring Adams’s time as mayor and his re-election campaign.
Mayor Adams is seen here along Greco during an event in October of 2023 in New York City
In an interview after the hand off, Greco apologized and said it was a ‘culture thing’
The newest incident involving Greco is the latest in a long line of issues marring Adams’s time as mayor and his re-election campaign
Adams was under federal investigation which led to an indictment last year accusing him of accepting illegal campaign money from Turkey.
He pleaded not guilty in September last year to charges that he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and travel perks from Turkish nationals.
In April of this year a federal judge had the case thrown out after the Justice Department ordered prosecutors to drop the charges.
Greco resigned from her role under Adams last October with federal agents searching two homes belonging to her in February.
Authorities didn’t explain what the investigation was about, and Greco has not been charged with committing a crime, but she was among a number of close aides to Adams who resigned or were fired amid the federal scrutiny.
The incident surrounding Greco comes as another top aide of Adams was set to appear in court on Thursday to face charges.
Adams’ former chief of staff and closest confidant, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, her son Glenn D. Martin, former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton and two of Adams’ political donors, siblings Tony and Gina Argento, are among those facing new charges.
Adams, left, is seen here alongside Jesse Hamilton in a pictured captured in 2016 when Adams was the Brooklyn Borough President
Ingrid Lewis-Martin, seen here alongside Adams, is to appear in court on Thursday over corruption charges. Her lawyer said she will plead guilty
Lewis-Martin resigned in December ahead of her indictment in a separate case in which she and her son are accused of taking bribes in exchange for speedy approval of construction projects.
That case is still pending. She has continued to volunteer for the Adams campaign while awaiting trial.
On Thursday, she was charged with four additional counts of conspiracy and bribe receiving.
The new cases accuse her of performing political favors in exchange for cash, a speaking role on a TV show, home renovations and thousands of dollars in catering for events at City Hall and Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg said: ‘As alleged, Lewis-Martin consistently overrode the expertise of public servants so she could line her own pockets.
‘While she allegedly received more than $75,000 in bribes and an appearance on a TV show, every other New Yorker lost out.’
Bragg described the indictments as ‘classic bribery conspiracies that had a deep and wide-ranging impact on city government.’
Her attorney Arthur Aidala said in a statement that Lewis-Martin would plead not guilty to the new charges.
