Soon-to-be-former New York Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and campaign seem to be staffed entirely with stacks of corruption in trench coats, but this latest incident is remarkable even for that collection of crooks. After an Adams campaign event, Winnie Greco, advisor to the mayor, handed reporter Katie Honan of THE CITY a half-eaten bag of chips with an envelop of money inside, apparently as a bribe of some sort?
Greco and Honan walked to the Whole Foods next door. While inside the store, Greco handed Honan the opened bag of chips with the top crumpled closed. Honan, thinking it was an offer of a light snack, told Greco more than once she could not accept the chips, but Greco insisted that she keep them.
The two parted ways. Before entering a nearby subway station, Honan opened the bag and discovered a red envelope inside stuffed with cash, at least one $100 bill and several $20 bills. The reporter then called Greco and told her she could not accept the money and asked if she was still nearby so she could give it back. Greco said she’d left the area. Honan told her she had to take the money back, and Greco said they could meet at some point in Chinatown.
The reporter then texted Greco, “I can’t take this, when can I give it back to you?” She did not get a response.
In an interview later Wednesday, THE CITY asked Greco what her intention was in handing money to the reporter. In response, she said she’d made “a mistake” and apologized over and over.
Things got weirder. Greco said she wasn’t trying to buy goodwill for the campaign, just make a friend (by offering money in a chip bag) and referred the inquiring news hounds to her attorney, Steven Brill.
“I can see how this looks strange,” Brill said. “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.”
After THE CITY informed the Adams campaign about the interaction with Greco, campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro said Greco was immediately suspended from the campaign.
“We are shocked by these reports,” 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.”
People on Bluesky are having fun with Brill’s attempt to explain it away as a cultural thing. Here’s my contribution to the genre.
I get this because in MY culture, it’s not uncommon to drink lots of malt liquor and hurl live alligators through drive-thru restaurant windows. It’s considered RUDE if the cashier does not accept the reptile. 🐊
— Betty Cracker of Florida (@bettycrackerfl.bsky.social) August 21, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Open thread!
Mr. Bemused Senior
Have an alligator.
No, thanks, I’m trying to give them up.
Steve in the ATL
Your [whatever one calls a BSky post] was masterful! Or mistressful–don’t want to be sexist.
Omnes Omnibus
This manages to be racist and crimey.
Tom Levenson
RE Betty’s brilliant bluesky snark, I am reminded of the last scene of Romancing the Stone when we get that shot of Michael Douglas’s shiny new alligator boots…
Steve LaBonne
I have retired the word “unbelievable” from my vocabulary because nowadays so many completely insane things are actually happening.
MattF
Yeah, Adams is openly corrupt. Yeah, as is his entourage. Yeah, very frustrating. Sigh.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: IOW, totally Florida! (even though it happened in NY–too good a combination not to blame it on our neighbor to the south)
MT
I was amused that the total amount reported was around $140. If you’re going to bribe someone, this seems like a paltry sum.
dr. luba
Child abuse advocate James Dobson is dead. Hell has a new demon!!!!!
Captain C
Your BSky post was hilarious, but what happens when the cashier already has a complete set of gators?
Captain C
@MT: Especially in New York City. That’s barely enough for a cheap night out for two.
Captain C
@dr. luba: Or catamite/whipping boy for the demons.
Scout211
I just can’t with this NY Appellate court ruling.
Baud
I need more Chinese friends.
prostratedragon
@MT: More of an ante, maybe.
Old School
I’m going to have to talk to the Chinese people I know about the lack of cash gifts to me.
Have they forgotten their heritage?!?
WaterGirl
Oh my god, I snorted when I read that. It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking anything at the time or I probably would choked on it, or at the very least what I was drinking would have come back out my nose. (eewww)
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: I have never been to Florida.
Belafon
@Captain C: One gator is worth 6 catfish. You don’t collect them, they’re currency.
Gin & Tonic
A former Governor of RI took a $10k cash bribe in a brown paper bag when in a (small local chain) fast-food place, then mistakenly tossed it in the trash when emptying his tray, so later he was found poking around in the dumpster to find his bag. I find that a lot funnier than this NY story.
Steve LaBonne
@Scout211: This is not NY’s highest court, so I would imagine James can appeal and I hope she does.
Eunicecycle
@WaterGirl: I would think if it were a gesture of friendship she would have just …handed it to her? I’m not Chinese but I find it hard to believe in that culture gifts are wrapped in snack foods. Half eaten of course.
Betty Cracker
Y’all think I’m kidding? Alligator tossing is a thing at a Florida drive-thru
Chetan Murthy
I remember long ago in the noughties, around when Suharto died, there was a lot of talk about “crony capitalism” and such. Well-intentioned (not) commentators in places like the WSJ wrote hoity-toity pieces about how that stuff could never happen here, what with our deep and transparent markets, our strict regulatory regimes, our law-abiding culture. Even back then, I remember saying “yeah, about that, Enron, Global Crossing, shall I continue?”
Cultures of corruption come from the top, not from the bottom. Immigrants come to America from many countries where bribery is -rampant-. I will use the example of India, but surely others can substitute other countries. In India, bribery was so fucking rampant thatin 1979 when I visited last, and my grandmother needed to renew her radio license, she sent me down to the post office with the form, the fee, and “a little something for the clerk”. B/c that’s how things were done. And yet, I have never met a standard-issue ostensibly law-abiding Indian-American who has ever given or demanded a bribe. Never. Not once. That culture came from the top. It is always the elites who demand excess gains, and they who set the tone for the rest of society in this regard.
And of course, while I am not Chinese-American, I suspect the same would be true of Chinese-Americans. This shit is just the purest racism: if it were Italian-Americans, this jagoff Brill wouldn’t -dare- say what he said.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: I was going to ask if it was Buddy, but I guess he was a mayor.
Scout211
@Betty Cracker: Well, that was a Wendy’s, so . . .
The Audacity of Krope
Mayor under investigation for corruption after previous corruption charges pardoned by corrupt President. Corrupt former member of his administration and current high profile “volunteer” issues a bribe.
Sounds completely normal for the lawn order crowd.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Betty Cracker: where is Dave Barry when you need him?
BethanyAnne
ok, actually LOL’d at “RUDE if the cashier does not accept the reptile.” Did anyone else see the cat subway?
youtu.be/KRtyMCeDw8o
p.a.
Why do you hate Italian-American culture? //s
ETA: he was Republican, of course.
MisterForkbeard
I am somewhat more willing to give this idiot a little benefit of the doubt, because it’s weird for an official to expect to bribe a reporter with a few hundred dollars.
But also, it’s really clear that people will compromise themselves for basically a bag of potato chips.
And also: It’s a thoroughly corrupt administration (NY) and federally (Trump) and it’s clear that open corruption will be tolerated and in many cases just encouraged.
Eolirin
Mayor indicted for accepting foriegn bribes says what? C’mon man.
p.a.
@zhena gogolia: and another one! //ss
Soprano2
@Steve LaBonne: I mostly retired that word after spending a lot of time answering the phone and talking to the public, plus a year and a half of going door to door talking to people about their flooding and sewer problems. I swear at this point you could tell me pretty much anything and I would at least consider that it might be true.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Soprano2: you could switch to “inconceivable.”
Old Dan and Little Ann
My friends and I were on a long road trip many moons ago and we wound up drinking many Budweisers in the bar named Floribama. I even bought a t-shirt because I was young and stupid. Sadly, the t-shirt was lost when we all scrambled out of my friend’s truck the next night while were driving through multiple tornado warnings somewhere in Mississippi. Some lucky person must have found my shirt under an overpass at some point. I did not see any alligators on my trip.
Edited to add that the whole point of my post was to bring up the yearly mullet tossing contest that was apparently happening the next day.
Captain C
Shapiro then started laughing uncontrollably and fell to the floor. A few minutes later, when he recovered, he said, “OK, I’ll try that again…”
gene108
Same everywhere I’ve gone.
“You guys came all the out here to help me move! Here’s a $120 dollars for gas, and a show of friendship and gratitude”.
“Dude, you helped me so much when everything hit the fan. Here’s a $120 dollars in a bag of potato chips. Don’t worry the money’s in a red envelope so it won’t get potato chip crumbs on the cash.”
“Hi! We just met! Here’s a $120 dollars in a bag of SourCream & Onion potato chips. Let’s be friends! I’m so grateful I met you!”
Scout211
Trump announced that he will be doing a ride along tonight with the police and national guard.
. . .
Trollhattan
Heh.
Living in the middle of a hot mess it’s somehow comforting to know that elsewhere, it’s even messier.
On that theme, our house took a hard shake this morning when two miles away, a house exploded. Whee!
MattF
@Scout211: He wants a confrontation.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Scout211:
I hope those protestors are out in full force again to boo him. That fucker has turned the District of Columbia into a police state
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: We have plenty of corruption to go around.
Scout211
@Trollhattan: The news is reporting that neighbors said the home owner told them he that he was planning to do it. One person is dead and multiple homes nearby were on fire.
Old School
@Scout211:
Let’s hope no one shows up with a sandwich.
randy khan
The only thing about this story that even makes me consider the possibility that Brill’s explanation is accurate is that the person getting a bribe usually knows about it ahead of time. But given the overall story, that’s a pretty thin reed.
Gin & Tonic
@Old School: I heard the guy who was hit by the sandwich had to be taken to the Mayo Clinic.
randy khan
@Scout211:
Last night, they were doing a great job hanging out about half a block from Nationals Park in D.C. 40 minutes or so before the game. They were all dressed up, but were just standing around chatting with each other and drinking off-brand soda pop. And they were gone by the time we left the park.
Nats Park before or during a game is a particularly stupid place for a guard presence because there always are lots of cops there, and it’s a pretty safe place anyway.
p.a.
@Gin & Tonic: Remember ProJo, I think, photo of approx 70 yr old Chief Justice RI Supreme Court leaving a motel zipping up after an afternoon… well, you know… with IIRC a 40-something court employee.
JoyceH
@Old School: Oh, so Trump and his twenty vehicle motorcade is going to do a “ride along”? I’m sure he’ll really get an up close and personal look at what life is like on the mean streets. Gritty. Seriously, I saw footage of Trump at his golf course in Scotland and that cowardly man-baby must have had a twenty vehicle golfcartcade!
Miss Bianca
@MT: Right – it’s not the thought that I could be *bought* that’s as insulting as the thought that I could be bought for so *little*. Come on, folks! Have *some* consideration for my “journalistic integrity”!
Baud
@MT:
@Miss Bianca:
I would have done it for the chips.
Miss Bianca
@Betty Cracker: oh, dear God. I’m not sure whether that makes your post even funnier or just more horrifying!
Craig
@zhena gogolia: Buddy was corrupt, but he wasn’t gonna be losing 10Gs in a paper bag in a trashcan.
Old School
@JoyceH:
War heroes don’t mind the danger.
Teresa
@Scout211:
All those people going through a McDonald drive thru. 😂
rikyrah
This is crazy 😒😒
Professor Bigfoot
@Belafon: Wouldn’t those have to be mighty big catfish? And what about the value of the gator hide? That’s BOOTS, mane!
At least 15 catfish. AT LEAST.
Mr. Mack
In my culture, it’s called “mordida” which translated means bite. Very common nearly everywhere in Mexico.
Professor Bigfoot
@Chetan Murthy: Or Russians.
divF
@Mr. Bemused Senior: I think that this is more Carl Hiaasen territory.
Professor Bigfoot
DUPLICATE
PS— I’m getting a “posting too fast” warning?
I need to take that for “what you posted posted, delete that window and move along.”😉
Montanareddog
@JoyceH:
The Secret Service was probably worried that a protestor would throw a haggis into the carrot-colored fatberg’s moobs.
Momentum is proportional to mass and that shit is dense!
Kirk
@Teresa: And then them
bustingseizing the person who has to bring the bag to the cars…eta – sorry, busting implies a legitimacy I did not intent.
Anonymous At Work
@Tom Levenson: I felt like clapping at her post to BlueSky. This is The Way.
randy khan
@Scout211:
The headline doesn’t tell the whole story. The bottom line is that the finding of fraud was upheld, as was the Attorney General’s power to bring the case in the first place. The justices (New York has unusual titles – we’d normally think these particular people were judges) said the amount of the fine was too big in light of the underlying facts, but did not say there couldn’t be a fine at all.
The court also fractured all over the place. One judge would have thrown the whole thing out (and was chided for this because he basically wanted to ignore prior rulings in this case). Two judges wanted exactly happened in the appeal; two others agreed on whether the case could be brought, but thought it shouldn’t have been decided on summary judgment and instead wanted a new trial on everything. The last two sort of kind of concurred in the actual decision so there would be a result that could be appealed to the Court of Appeals (the highest court in New York).
I have some sympathy for the headline writers here, given that, but still the real bottom line is that the fraud finding is intact.
Sure Lurkalot
It was a totally innocent mistake! And it’s not like Adams is running on a platform proposing free transit and housing affordability, so why are everyone’s panties in a wad?
Teresa
@Kirk:
I wouldn’t be surprised, just to show how rough and tough they are at all times. We all know the orange turd is going to rant insanely about made up shit afterwards. Then demand more stupid and cruel crap, which all the republicans will do blindly.
MattF
@Sure Lurkalot: Not to mention expropriating the means of production.
Lyrebird
@MT: If $140 really was the total, it makes the culture explanation harder to buy, though I do wish the different news posts woulda mentioned it was a ceremonial red envelope. Packet of chips? weird. Anyhow 4 is (ETA: bad luck), like “13” is for Anglos, much more likely to find $88 or $150 in a red envelope, not something with a 4 in it.
prostratedragon
Loomis’s historical notes can be good 🧵:
cain
When i get a bag of potato chips.. I like to munch and then take a slug of Teem.
Deputinize America
Wherein holding well-to-do white guys responsible for their frauds in a meaningful way violates the Eighth Amendment. Fuck this so-called constitution, and fuck the Founding Fuckheads.
cnn.com/2025/08/21/politics/trump-civil-trial-trump-organization-appeal
cain
@Scout211:
This is the most work he’s ever done.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@cain: Wikipedia tells me it’s still available in Pakistan.
HinTN
@Scout211: It’s not quite that bad. Per The Great Orange Satan.
Ohio Mom
@Professor Bigfoot: I get that sometimes when I double post by accident.
lowtechcyclist
@Gin & Tonic:
You may have relished sharing that with us, but that joke doesn’t cut the mustard.
lamh47
Did ya’ll see the announcement that chump claiming he’ll be “patrolling the streets of DC” with military personnel or some bullshit…
HARD AZZ EYE ROLL!
Professor Bigfoot
@HinTN: I forgot THAT Great Orange Satan, given the current… well, okay, he’s evil, but even Satan’s not as evil as Trump, so…
Lyrebird
@lamh47: Have I missed any job-search updates? Fingers crossed either way!
Professor Bigfoot
@Ohio Mom: The front porch also has the worst wifi in the house, so I thought *that* was the culprit and that the first one never went through.
But to do it in two different threads, ain’t that some kinda record? ;^D
tam1MI
You people are missing the most important part of the story!
….
What brand were the chips?
😏
Scout211
@randy khan: @HinTN:
Thank you. The devil is in the details, which are apparently lost on the media.
Lyrebird
@Steve in the ATL: Pretty epic writing, yes. I think or I hope Betty C does get the message that we appreciate her Jedi-level wordsmithing.
I came back to say this after reading some tripe on HuffPost about brief vacations – they start by saying these are just the thing for people on a tight budget, people with kids, then they give examples like a weekend modern art trip to Tokyo, WTH. Anyhow, I rushed back after that mess to add to the applause for Betty C! Her and Anne Laurie’s humor make my day.
Gravenstone
@MT: “What, you expected favorable coverage for that? I’m afraid my price is much higher!”
evodevo
@MT:
Hey! In Eastern KY that would be plenty LOL. I will admit it seems kind of paltry for NYC, however.
cain
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
I heard that some markets still have it. It was discontinued in 1984, but I still remember the commercials. Some craft soda makers are trying to revive it.
frosty
Your Bluesky response is no less than I would expect from you. Kudos!
BTW I would not accept the reptile. RUDE!
cain
@evodevo:
Even a NYC homeless man would be upset at such a low number.
Geminid
@MT: I think Greco intended that $140 as an opener. If the reporter hadn’t protested, the next time they met Greco would have asked, “Hey, how’d you like those chips?… Well I’m glad you enjoyed them! We need to talk about how you can get some more….”
WaterGirl
@Professor Bigfoot: If you got the Redis error and refresh instead of using the back arrow, it posts and almost immediately posts again when you refresh the page.
I don’t know if that’s the reason you got that message, but that happened to me recently.
prostratedragon
@lamh47: I think he loves ride-alongs. Working his way up to shooting someone on Constitution Ave.
prostratedragon
@lamh47: I think he loves ride-alongs. Working his way up to shooting someone on Constitution Ave.
Professor Bigfoot
@WaterGirl: Suffice to say… “Pilot Error.” ;^D
Now that I know what I’m triggering, I know how to avoid it.
Ramalama
@lamh47: Weird that he wants to get out there … in his limo … and interact … with the people.
You’d think the man had COVID or something.
evodevo
@Geminid: It’s such an odd number, though…why not $100 or $150? Was that all the cash she had on her at the time or what?
prostratedragon
Captain C
@prostratedragon: If they give him a gun there’s a good chance he blows off his tiny mushroom.
They Call Me Noni
@tam1MI: cheetos
lamh47
@Lyrebird: oooh…yes I was literally gonna post an update in most recent open thread.
Shalimar
@JoyceH: From what I have read, they tend to ride around in 10+ vehicle groups anyway so every agency can have someone there. I doubt Trump’s extra vehicles will even be noticed./s
mrmoshpotato
LMAO!
beckya57
That made me LOL!
2liberal
Governor DiPrete if my memory serves
The Lodger
@lowtechcyclist: I dunno… Looks like G&T was on a roll.
Paul in KY
@Craig: Don’t blame him for going diving after it.
Paul in KY
@lowtechcyclist: Boo!!! :-)