A longtime ally, adviser and fundraiser for New York Mayor Eric Adams was suspended from his re-election effort after she attempted to hand a local journalist a cash-stuffed potato chip bag.
Winnie Greco was outed by a local news organization, The City, for trying to give cash surreptitiously tucked inside a Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chip bag to one of its City Hall reporters after a campaign event Wednesday afternoon in Harlem. And a former chief advisor to Adams was indicted on new charges in an alleged bribery scheme on Thursday morning, less than a day after the Greco revelation.
Winnie Greco and the bag of chips
According to the news outlet, the reporter, Katie Honan, initially refused the potato chips, which she believed to be a genuine snack offer, but Greco insisted. Upon discovering the wad of cash, which reportedly included at least one $100 bill and several $20 bills, she immediately contacted the Adams confidant to return the unwanted gift.
“I can’t take this, when can I give it back to you,” Honan texted Greco, to no response, according to The City.
Greco later called the money offer “a mistake” and apologized profusely when The City contacted her about why she tried to give a reporter who covers Adams’ administration a cash gift after an event meant to support his re-election. Greco, who is Chinese, said the act was “a culture thing,” a position her attorney supported in a statement to The City.
“I can see how this looks strange,” Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, told The City. “But I assure you that Winnie’s intent was purely innocent. In the Chinese culture, money is often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude. Winnie is apologetic and embarrassed by any negative impression or confusion this may have caused.”
Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams’ mayoral campaign, said in a statement that “Grecco [sic] holds no position in this campaign and has been suspended from all VOLUNTEER campaign-related activities.”
“We are shocked by these reports,” Shapiro said, adding, “Mayor Adams had no prior knowledge of this matter.”
Greco has been a close ally of Adams for more than a decade, serving as a conduit between the mayor and the city’s Asian American communities and a top fundraiser for his campaigns and landing a role in his administration as director of Asian affairs. She resigned from that role last year, months after the FBI raided two of her properties as part of an investigation into a straw donations scheme in Adams’ 2021 campaign.
The probe into the straw donations was one of several legal scandals surrounding Adams, whom federal prosecutors charged last year with abusing his position “as this City’s highest elected official, and before that as Brooklyn Borough President, to take bribes and solicit illegal campaign contributions.” The Trump Justice Department later dismissed the charges.
Shapiro said Adams “has always demanded the highest ethical and legal standards.”
Richard Kim, the editor in chief of The City, called Greco’s cash gift “deeply disturbing.”
“The fact that one of mayor Adams’ closest, longtime advisors would attempt to ingratiate herself to any reporter, much less Katie Honan, with a cash gift is deeply disturbing and speaks to a rampant and blatant disregard for the role of a free and fair press,” Kim said. “The choice of sour cream and onion chips is also questionable.”
Ingrid Lewis-Martin accused of taking $75K in bribes
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced charges against Ingrid Lewis-Martin, who served as Adams’ chief advisor until she abruptly resigned in December.
Lewis-Martin is accused of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes while serving in the mayor’s administration between March 2022 and November 2024. Bragg accused her of overriding “the expertise of public servants so she could line her own pockets.”
“Hardworking City employees were undermined, businesses and developers who followed the law were pushed aside, and the public was victimized by corruption at the highest levels of government,” Bragg said. “New Yorkers are fortunate to be served by thousands of hardworking City employees who embody the dignity of public service.”
The alleged conspiracy was outlined in four indictments, two of which included her son, Glenn D. Martin II. The indictment alleges that her son received $50,000 in exchange for steering city contracts for asylum seeker shelter sites for preferred property owners and to help fast-track permit approvals for a karaoke bar in Queens.
The mother-son duo are also accused of working with the city’s deputy commissioner of real estate services to fast-track development permits and steer city contracts in exchange for home renovations.
A separate indictment alleges that Lewis-Martin received $2,500 in other personal benefits, including thousands of dollars in catering, to withdraw approval for a street redesign of McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn.
She is also accused of conspiring to give approval for a residential renovation in exchange for thousands of dollars worth of catering for events at Gracie Mansion and City Hall.
Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said Thursday that the department is requesting agencies review permits related to the indictments.
Arthur Aidala, an attorney for Lewis-Martin, denied allegations of wrongdoing against his client to NBC News. He accused Bragg of trying to “portray a dedicated and honest public servant as a criminal.”
“Her only so-called ‘offense’ was fulfilling her duty — helping fellow citizens navigate the City’s outdated and often overwhelming bureaucracy,” Aidala said. “At no point did she receive a single dollar or any personal benefit for her assistance.”
An attorney representing her son did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Thursday.
Lewis-Martin and her son are already facing charges of bribery and money laundering that dropped in December, just days after her resignation. Prosecutors allege they received more than $100,000 in cash and other kickbacks from hotel developers to illegally assist them with permits and applications.
Both entered pleas of not guilty in relation to that case.
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