Adams Campaign Hits New Low After Winnie Greco Cash Incident
The past few months have been full of challenges for Eric Adams. The scandal-scarred incumbent mayor continues to badly trail his competitors in the polls, while his independent reelection campaign remains barred from receiving public matching funds. On Wednesday, Adams’s predicament took a new and even stranger turn this week when a former adviser to the mayor attempted to give money to a local reporter. Hours later, a different former adviser was indicted — for the second time. While Adams himself has not been accused of any wrongdoing, the incidents probably won’t allay voter concerns over his reputation.
The City reported that Winnie Greco handed a potato-chip bag containing more than $100 to Katie Honan, the outlet’s City Hall reporter, following a recent campaign event in Harlem. According to the outlet, Greco contacted Honan after the event and the two met at a nearby Whole Foods, where Greco handed her the disguised cash. Honan attempted to turn down the bag, thinking Greco was offering her food, only discovering what The City described as “at least one $100 bill and several $20 bills” after they parted ways.
Honan contacted Greco to return the money, texting her, “I can’t take this, when can I give it back to you?” When there was no response, the reporter turned the money over to her editors, who went on to contact the city’s Department of Investigation. Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn later confiscated the cash.
When contacted by The City afterward, Greco, who is Chinese, called the interaction a “mistake” and claimed it was a cultural gesture of friendship. “Can we forget about this? I try to be a good person. Please. Please. Please don’t do in the news nothing about me,” she asked.
Steven Brill, Greco’s attorney, told the New York Times that his client had no nefarious intentions. “I grant you this looks odd,” he said. “But I assure you that Winnie’s intent was purely innocent.”
Greco previously served in the Adams administration as the director of Asian affairs. But it was her activities as one of his top fundraisers that caught the attention of federal prosecutors, who have scrutinized fundraising events she organized that were later found to have used straw donors. Last year, two homes owned by Greco were raided by federal agents as part of an ongoing investigation by the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office.
In a statement to The City, Adams campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro said that the mayor had no knowledge of Greco’s actions. “We are shocked by these reports,” Shapiro said. “Winnie Greco holds no position in this campaign and has been suspended from all volunteer campaign-related activities.”
Greco is not the only former Adams associate facing legal scrutiny this week. On Thursday, the Manhattan DA’s office announced that Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’s former chief adviser, was charged in four separate conspiracy indictments as prosecutors allege she accepted more than $75,000 in bribes.
According to the indictments, Lewis-Martin used her position in City Hall to direct city contracts to preferred owners and fast-track development projects and permit approvals in exchange for thousands of dollars, personal home renovations, and even catering for Gracie Mansion events.
In one notable instance, Lewis-Martin is alleged to have pushed the Department of Transportation to revoke approval for a redesign of McGuinness Boulevard at the behest of Gina and Tony Argento, a brother-and-sister duo associated with the film-production company Broadway Stages, which uses the road for its work. According to text messages obtained by the prosecutor, Gina Argento texted Lewis-Martin a flyer from Make McGuinness Safe, an organization advocating for the road’s redesign with additional bike lanes. In response, Lewis-Martin reportedly wrote, “I will call you. We do not care what they say. We are ignoring them and continuing with our plan. They can kiss my ass.”
In exchange for her help to scuttle the McGuinness redevelopment plans, prosecutors say Lewis-Martin received a $2,500 payment and other benefits, as well as a cameo appearance on the television series Godfather of Harlem.
Lewis-Martin is named in the indictments alongside her son, Glenn Martin II; Jesse Hamilton, the former state senator and current deputy commissioner of the Department of City Administrative Services; and four other co-defendants. Lewis-Martin is facing four counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree as well as four counts of bribe receiving in the second degree. Martin II has been charged with two counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree and two counts of bribe receiving in the second degree. As for Hamilton, he faces one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree. Lewis-Martin and her son were both indicted last year in a separate bribery scheme.
Adams’s challengers in the mayoral race did not hesitate in commenting on the news. On social media, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani said that while city residents are struggling to afford life in the city, the mayor and his administration are “too busy tripping over corruption charges” to aid them.
“Our city deserves a mayor who spends their time with constituents, not stuck in courtrooms. We need a new era of leadership,” he said.
During a campaign event, Cuomo called legal trouble surrounding the Adams campaign “unforgivable” and said the mayor is not a viable candidate, per the Daily News. Campaign staff also handed out bags of chips to reporters in the room as Cuomo quipped, “Sometimes a bag of potato chips is just a bag of potato chips.”
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican Party nominee, took aim at Cuomo as well, saying that New Yorkers are “sick of the status quo.”
“We’ve watched governors abuse power, shut down corruption probes, resign in disgrace, and mayors whose cronies end up in handcuffs or trying to bribe reporters with cash in potato chip bags. That is the broken political class. The contrast could not be clearer,” he said.
Related