A former longtime adviser to the mayor of New York City who resigned while under FBI scrutiny gave a reporter a potato chip bag filled with cash Wednesday after a campaign event.
A lawyer for Winnie Greco, the former adviser, insisted the cash was not an attempted bribe.
The local news site The City reported the incident hours after one of its reporters said Greco had pressed a bag of potato chips into her hands containing a red envelope with a $100 bill and several $20 bills.
The reporter, Katie Honan, had scrutinized Greco’s conduct in the past as a significant fundraiser for Adams in the Chinese American community.
Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, told the Associated Press that the situation was being “blown out of proportion”.
“This was not a bag of cash,” Brill wrote in an email. “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.”
Asked why Greco wanted to make such a gesture to Honan, Brill said: “She knows the reporter and is fond of her.”
The City said Greco later apologized, saying she made “a mistake”.
“I’m so sorry. It’s a culture thing. I don’t know. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry. I feel so bad right now,” Greco said, according to The City.
In response to the report, Eric 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.
The City reported that Greco had texted Honan to meet her inside a Whole Foods store after they both attended the opening of Adams’ campaign headquarters in Harlem.
When given the chip bag, Honan at first thought Greco was just giving her a snack and said she could not accept it but Greco insisted, according to the report.
Honan left and later discovered the money, then called Greco and told her she could not accept it and asked to give it back. Greco said they could meet later but then stopped responding, the report said.
Greco later called The City back and asked them not to do a story, saying: “I try to be a good person,” the news outlet reported.
A City Hall spokesperson declined to comment. An Adams campaign aide, Todd Shapiro, said Greco holds no position in the campaign.
“We are shocked by these reports,” Shapiro said. “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 text message sent to a phone number listed in public records for Greco was not immediately responded to.
Since she resigned as Adams’ director of Asian affairs last October, Greco has occasionally been seen at his campaign events. Greco had served as Adams’ longtime liaison with the city’s Chinese American community. She was also a prolific fundraiser for Adams’ campaigns.
In February 2024, federal agents searched two properties belonging to Greco. Authorities didn’t explain what the investigation was about, and Greco has not been charged with committing a crime, but she was one of a number of close aides to Adams who resigned or were fired amid the federal scrutiny.
The City has reported extensively on the investigation and Greco’s conduct, including a campaign volunteer’s allegations that Greco had promised to get him a city job if he helped renovate her home.
A separate federal investigation into Adams led to a 2024 indictment accusing the mayor of accepting illegal campaign contributions and travel discounts from a Turkish official and others — and returning the favors by, among other things, helping Turkey open a diplomatic building without passing fire inspections.
A federal judge dismissed the case in April after the justice department ordered prosecutors to drop the charges, arguing that the case was interfering with the mayor’s ability to aid Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
