(The Center Square) — A former top aide and campaign advisor to incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been suspended after she was caught handing a reporter a bag full of cash, according to published reports.
The City news outlet reported that Winnie Greco tried to give a reporter who covers Adams’ administration a cash-stuffed Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chip bag following an event supporting his re-election bid.
According to the news outlet, Greco handed the chip bag to reporter Katie Honan, who initially thought she was being given a snack, but later discovered a red envelope in the bag containing a $100 bill and other cash.
Greco later called the money offer “a mistake” and “apologized” when The City contacted her about why she tried to give its reporter what appeared to be a bribe, according to the news outlet.
Her attorney told the news outlet the move was “purely innocent” noting that in Chinese culture money is “often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude,” The City reported.
“Winnie is apologetic and embarrassed by any negative impression or confusion this may have caused,” he told The City.
Greco served as a top Adams advisor and fundraiser as well as the administration’s liaison to the city’s Asian community until last year, when she stepped down after the FBI raided two of her properties as part of an investigation into a straw donations scheme in Adams’s 2021 mayoral campaign. Charges related to that investigation were later dropped by the Trump administration.
A spokesperson for Adams’s mayoral campaign said in a statement that Greco “holds no position in this campaign and has been suspended from all VOLUNTEER campaign-related activities.”
“We are shocked by these reports,” Adams campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro said in the statement. “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.”
Adams, a Democrat first elected in 2021, is running a long shot reelection bid as an independent candidate with polls showing him lacking behind Queens Assemblyman and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who is also running on the independent ticket.
The news reports about Greco’s attempted payoff comes as other reports say longtime Adams confidant Ingrid Lewis-Martin is expected to face even more corruption charges this week for allegedly accepting handouts in exchange for political favors.
