Honestly, I haven’t paid too much attention to NYC Mayor Eric Adams this year. Last September, he was charged with crimes like bribery and fraud, all part of his incredibly chaotic time in the mayor’s mansion. In April, the charges were dismissed but everyone knows that Mayor Adams and his staff are incredibly corrupt (and crazy). Well, funny story. Literally, this story made me laugh. One of Mayor Adams’ advisers tried to bribe a journalist with around $100 hidden in a potato chip bag. LMAO.

A close adviser to Mayor Eric Adams was suspended from his re-election campaign on Wednesday after giving a journalist cash tucked inside a potato chip bag.

The adviser, Winnie Greco, who was the mayor’s former director of Asian affairs at City Hall and one of his best fund-raisers, had returned to the campaign trail as a volunteer during Mr. Adams’s run for a second term. She had been at the center of controversy after the F.B.I. raided her homes last year as part of a federal investigation into possible Chinese government interference in the 2021 mayor’s race.

On Wednesday, Ms. Greco attended an event with Mr. Adams in Harlem and gave more than $100 in a red envelope stashed inside the snack bag to a reporter for The City, according to an article in the online news outlet. The City promptly reported the incident to the city’s Department of Investigation, and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn contacted the newspaper’s lawyers, according to the newspaper’s account.

“We are shocked by these reports,” Mr. Adams’s campaign spokesman, Todd Shapiro, said. “Winnie Greco holds no position in this campaign and has been suspended from all volunteer campaign related activities.” He said Mr. Adams has “always demanded the highest ethical and legal standards.”

Ms. Greco’s lawyer, Steven Brill, said that it is common in Chinese culture to give cash to reporters “in a gesture of friendship and gratitude.”

“I grant you this looks odd,” Mr. Brill said. “But I assure you that Winnie’s intent was purely innocent.” He said Ms. Greco’s attempt to give money to the reporter might have been “misconstrued” and that she is “apologetic and embarrassed.”

[From The NY Times]

While it is part of Chinese culture to give people money in red envelopes (for good luck), the money is usually part of some kind of celebration, like a birthday, wedding or graduation. It’s also not part of Chinese culture – to my knowledge – to hide the red envelope in a potato chip bag?? But here’s the thing, if this was a bribe (or an attempted bribe), what in the world was it for and why only $100??? You know what bribery would work on me? The actual potato chips. If you bribe me with bags of potato chips, I will pretty much do whatever you want.

BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chipshttps://t.co/v1WkNf3FFx

— THE CITY (@THECITYNY) August 20, 2025

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.