A long-time adviser to New York Mayor Eric Adams gave a local journalist a wad of cash stuffed inside a bag of potato chips in what she said was a gesture of “friendship” and “gratitude.”
Reporter Katie Honan of news site THE CITY had seen Winnie Greco, a former City Hall aide who has been advising Adams on his re-election campaign, near the opening ceremony for Adams’ newest campaign office in Harlem on Wednesday.
After the event, Greco spotted Honan again and sent her a text message asking her to meet across the street from the campaign office, next to a TD Bank. The two then walked to the Whole Foods next door, THE CITY reported.
At the Whole Foods, Greco—who last year resigned from her position as the mayor’s liaison to the Asian community in response to multiple investigations—gave Honan an opened bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips with the top crumpled shut.
Despite thinking they were just potato chips, Honan said she couldn’t accept them and tried to give the bag back to Greco, who insisted she keep it, according to THE CITY.
After the two women parted ways, Honan opened the bag and discovered a small red envelope with Chinese writing “stuffed with cash, at least one $100 bill and several $20 bills,” THE CITY reported—which would add up to at least $160.
She called Greco, said she couldn’t accept the money, and asked Greco if she was still in the area so she could give it back. Greco said she had already left, but that they could meet at some point in Chinatown.
“I can’t take this, when can I give it back to you?” Honan then texted her, but Greco didn’t answer.
The reporter brought the bag and the envelope back to THE CITY’s office and gave it to her editors, who contacted the city Department of Investigation.
“Anticipating possible law enforcement investigations, THE CITY did not open the envelope or count the money inside,” reporters Greg B. Smith and Yoav Gonen wrote in an article about the incident.
Later that day, federal prosecutors contacted THE CITY’s lawyers, and an investigator came to collect the chip bag with the envelope and cash still inside.
When THE CITY’s reporters contacted Greco to ask why she had done it, Greco said it was a mistake due to her Chinese heritage and apologized repeatedly.
“I make a mistake,” she said. “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. I’m so sorry, honey.”
Asking the reporters not to write about her, she said she tries to be a “good person” and just wanted to be Honan’s friend.
“I just wanted to have one good friend. It’s nothing,” she said.
Her lawyer Steven Brill also chalked up the exchange to cultural differences.
“I can see how this looks strange,” 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.”
A spokesperson for Adams’ campaign, however, told THE CITY that Greco was immediately suspended from the campaign.
“We are shocked by these reports,” spokesperson Todd Shapiro said. “Winnie Grecco [sic] holds no position in this campaign and has been suspended from all VOLUNTEER campaign-related activities. 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.”
Even before she gave a reporter a wad of cash, Greco was already under investigation for allegedly falsifying donation records, which is illegal under the city’s campaign finance program. The FBI raided her home in February 2024.
She has been an Adams ally for more than a decade, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his mayoral campaigns and connecting him to influential members of the Chinese-American community.
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