According to a stunning report from NYC news outlet THE CITY, a New York City reporter with the outlet reportedly was on the receiving end of a bribery attempt carried out by a former aide to Mayor Eric Adams, the current mayor of New York City who was originally elected as a Democrat and is seeking re-election as an independent.
Such is what THE CITY revealed in an account of events published after an Adams campaign event in Harlem on Wednesday, August 20. According to the NYC-based publication, a longtime ally of Adams and former aide to him tried to bribe THE CITY’s City Hall reporter Katie Honan with a bundle of cash in a bag of potato chips.
Specifically, the outlet contends that Honan saw the former aide and longtime ally, Winnie Greco, and the two met across the street from the Adams campaign office after Greco texted Honan. The two then walked to a nearby Whole Foods grocery store, and talked as they did so.
It was as they did so, that Greco reportedly handed Honan a bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips. Honan thought Greco was offering her a snack, at first, and refused. Greco then kept trying to press the bag on her. Honan eventually relented and took it with her as she left.
According to THE CITY, Honan then made her way to the subway with the unwanted back of potato chips, and looked in it. It was then, the outlet contends, that she saw a red envelope sitting in it, containing a wad of cash. There were reportedly a collection of several $20 bills in the wad, along with at least one $100 bill.
Honan then reportedly freaked out and called Greco, who had left the area, saying that she needed to return the money and was not accepting the bribe. Greco reportedly wanted to meet in Chinatown, but was non-committal to the point of not answering when asked via text when and how the money could be returned to him.
Following the incident, THE CITY contacted Greco later that day and asked what had happened. Greco told the outlet, apologizing multiple times while doing so, that she had made “a mistake” and “just wanted to be [Honan’s] friend.” Greco also reportedly said that the wad of cash was “a culture thing.” THE CITY claimed to have contacted the Department of Investigation (DOI) regarding the incident.
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Greco’s attorney spoke to Fox News Digital about the incident and claimed that it was merely a matter of misunderstood culture, alleging that the transfer of cash was a sign of “gratitude and friendship” in Greco’s Chinese culture, and thus neither nefarious nor an attempt at a bribe,
That attorney said, “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.”
Watch Eric Adams try to downplay crime in NYC here:
Featured image credit: Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber announce a Subway Safety Plan at Fulton Transit Center on Fri., February 18, 2022…(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)