Winnie Greco, a former top aide to Mayor Eric Adams, was suspended from his re-election campaign after attempting to hand a reporter from THE CITY a bag of potato chips concealing a cash-filled envelope. The episode, which unfolded in Harlem on August 20, has renewed scrutiny of Adams’ embattled political circle.
According to THE CITY, reporter Katie Honan was covering the opening of Adams’ new campaign office when Greco texted her to meet across the street near a TD Bank. The two then walked to a nearby Whole Foods, where Greco gave Honan an opened bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion potato chips. Honan, assuming it was a casual gesture, initially declined before accepting after Greco’s insistence. Inside, she discovered a red envelope containing at least one $100 bill and several $20 bills.
Honan immediately contacted Greco, telling her she could not accept the money and offering to return it. Greco, who had already left the area, suggested a later meeting in Chinatown but stopped responding to further messages. In a subsequent interview with THE CITY, Greco described the incident as “a mistake,” adding, “I’m so sorry. It’s a culture thing. I don’t know. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry, honey.” She pleaded, “Can we forget about this? I try to be a good person. Please. Please. Please don’t do in the news nothing about me.”
Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, denied the act was “nefarious,” and contended that giving money to others is a Chinese sign of “gratitude and friendship.”
That bag of chips was left unexplained.
“This was no payoff. This was no handing over a bag of cash. This is nothing more than a gesture of kindness blown out of a Chinese tradition of handing money to others as a form of gratitude and friendship. She knows this reporter and was fond of her. It may appear strange, but there was nothing nefarious about it,” Brill told Fox News Digital.
The Adams campaign swiftly suspended Greco from all volunteer activities. A fixture in Adams’ political orbit for over a decade, Greco previously served as his Asian affairs director beginning in 2022 but resigned in October 2024 amid multiple investigations, including allegations she pressured a campaign volunteer to perform personal tasks in exchange for a city job.
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