As pressure grows on Mayor Eric Adams to part ways with administration officials caught in sweeping federal investigations, his response to the ongoing probe of a longtime adviser shows him digging in and doubling down despite warning signs of potential misconduct.
Since her two Bronx homes were raided by the FBI in February, Winnie Greco got the mayor’s blessings to return after a leave of absence in a new role at City Hall. Hired as the mayor’s Asian affairs advisor at $100,000 a year on Adams’ second day in office in 2022, she later received raises that doubled her salary.
Yet Greco also worked for Adams in his office as Brooklyn borough president starting in 2014 and for his 2021 mayoral campaign for several years without any documented pay — with her financial disclosures with the city ethics board for 2021 showing no income from any source whatsoever.
Her filings for the following two years show no income or investments aside from her government salary. In all three disclosures, Greco answered “no” to nearly all of the 22 questions, including about any outside income and if she held any stocks, bonds or other investments worth more than $1,000 at the close of last year.
Greco’s work for Adams, which includes eight years in which there is no record of compensation to her from his office or campaign and also includes multiple trips with Adams to China, is under increasing scrutiny at a time when federal prosecutors are investigating Chinese government influence in U.S. politics.
Earlier this month, Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney Breon Peace unsealed an indictment of Linda Sun, a former staffer for Gov. Kathy Hochul, alleging that she operated as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government. That’s the same U.S. attorney’s office that issued the warrant to search Greco’s homes.
Meanwhile, the Southern District of New York under U.S. Attorney Damian Williams has opened three separate investigations into Adams’ inner circle, seizing electronic devices from First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Schools Chancellor David Banks, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, then-NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, and loyal advisor Tim Pearson, among others. So far, only Caban has resigned — with Adams reportedly resisting internal pressure to fire Pearson in particular.
Greco has not been accused of wrongdoing. But the city Department of Investigation opened a probe, which is ongoing, after THE CITY reported that she stayed for months in a suite at a city-funded shelter hotel.
THE CITY also reported that an Adams campaign volunteer turned City Hall employee alleged Greco asked him to assist with home improvement and other personal matters while on the job.
And a business person alleged that Greco allegedly demanded a $10,000 donation to a nonprofit she founded to build an ornamental “Friendship Archway” in Sunset Park as a condition for attending an event with Adams at Gracie Mansion. That archway hasn’t materialized.
Greco worked out of Adams’ Flushing, Queens, campaign office for months during the 2021 elections — a period during which she helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars at multiple fundraisers to elect the mayor. The mall that housed that office and some of the events was also raided by the FBI.
Her campaign work capped a seven-year stretch during which Greco served as Adams’ “American Chinese ambassador” without any disclosure of who, if anyone, was paying her. At the time she also served as director of the nonprofit Sino-America New York Brooklyn Archway Association, which sought to work with Beijing borough government officials to help bring the ceremonial arch to Sunset Park in Brooklyn — also reporting no pay.
Adams championed the archway project, and emails from her time at the borough president’s office show her making persistent requests of both Chinese and New York officials for assistance. Records show her requesting Adams meet with outside organizations and delegations that included the Chinese consulate general and delegations of government officials visiting from China.
“Resolve what is needed for this,” reads a note signed “EA” in response to her proposal for a 2015 visit to Adams from the People’s Government of Gulou District.
Greco’s correspondence with Chinese government officials alternated between her ambassador title and that of “honorary deputy borough president.”
But as an outside “volunteer” with the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, she was not required to disclose her external income. That all changed once Adams hired her for a paid management job at City Hall — triggering a requirement that she file detailed annual financial disclosures with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.
In all three filings, she certified that she received no gifts above $50 and earned no income, including rental income, over $1,000 from any source beyond her City Hall job.
The form includes multiple questions on investments, debts, gifts and any involvement in non-profits or other organizations.
The only question Greco replied “yes” to was one that asked if she owned real estate beyond her primary or secondary home in 2023. Greco indicated that she had.
On Oct. 16, 2023, Greco purchased a property on Gillespie Avenue for $850,000 — just a few houses down from a home that she co-owns with a partner.
Those were the two homes that the FBI raided in February.
Greco didn’t respond to a text message seeking comment.
