New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s reelection effort absorbed two ethics blows in as many days, with a campaign volunteer suspended for attempting to give a journalist cash and a former top aide hit with fresh bribery charges. On Wednesday, longtime Adams ally Winnie Greco handed The City reporter Katie Honan an opened bag of sour-cream-and-onion potato chips that concealed a red envelope filled with cash—at least one $100 bill and several $20s—after a campaign event in Harlem. Honan refused the money, and the Adams campaign said it “shocked” and immediately barred Greco from all volunteer activities. The envelope was turned over to the New York City Department of Investigation, which, along with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, has opened an inquiry. A day later, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unsealed four indictments accusing former chief adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes between 2022 and 2024. Prosecutors say Lewis-Martin, her son Glenn Martin II, former state senator Jesse Hamilton and five business figures steered migrant-shelter contracts, expedited permits and reversed a Brooklyn street redesign in return for cash, home renovations, $10,000 in catered seafood and an acting cameo on the television series “Godfather of Harlem.” All defendants pleaded not guilty. Mayor Adams has not been accused of wrongdoing, but the twin scandals deepen scrutiny of his administration as he seeks a second term as an independent in November. City and federal investigators are already examining alleged straw donations and foreign influence tied to his previous fundraising, and rivals have seized on the latest revelations to question his oversight of close advisers.
Sobbing at the fact the Eric Adams campaign tried to bribe a reporter by giving them a potato chip bag with cash in it https://t.co/WEZNGP7ANn
Coimas en Andis: secuestraron el teléfono de Spagnuolo | Por @Vanepetrillo | Más información: https://t.co/nGkCBnctm9 https://t.co/OuzkRBXJa1 https://t.co/OYNgBr1amc
Campaign finance records reveal 72% of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign cash came from out-of-state donors — not local supporters. His donors? Hollywood elites and tech billionaires. “Grassroots” was a complete lie. https://t.co/8A4pFgfDyG