Cash in chips bag row: NYC mayor Adam’s ex-aide calls it ‘birthday present’; says ‘reporter tried to hurt me’

Chips bag with cash (left), Winnie Greco with Eric Adam (@THECITYNY, David Burns@FD4D)

Winnie Greco, a former adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, has claimed that the cash-filled potato chip bag she handed to a journalist was a misunderstood birthday gift, and further alleged that the reporter was attempting to harm her, reported The New York Post.The incident, first reported by The City, involved Greco passing a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips – stuffed with cash – to reporter Katie Honan. The move was widely seen as an unusual and failed attempt at a payoff, though Greco now says it was cultural.When approached by the Post on Friday in the Bronx, Greco said: “Before I didn’t know the way a lot in my envelope as a result of it’s my birthday present that’s Chinese tradition. Somebody gave me my birthday present, I made an enormous mistake. I’m so sorry. Talk to my lawyer.”She went on to suggest that Honan’s intentions have been dangerous. “It’s angel, OK, but if somebody wants to hurt me because I have love for my community… I cannot say anything,” she stated. When requested instantly if she meant Honan was attempting to hurt her, she responded, “Yes. Talk to my lawyer.”Greco’s lawyer, Steven Brill, reiterated that the cash was meant as a sort gesture, not a bribe. “I can’t comment on the source of the money,” he stated, including it was not supposed as something improper, as quoted by the Post.Honan instructed the portal, she was not engaged on any story involving Greco prior to the surprising present. While Greco referred to the packet as a birthday current, the timing stays unclear. Honan’s birthday is in November, and Greco’s birthdate was not confirmed, as Adams’ marketing campaign and her lawyer declined to present it.Greco had resigned from her City Hall publish earlier amid scrutiny, and this newest clarification provides to the rising questions across the incident