"Be good to Winnie"

A lot of news! #63

An amazing photo by my colleague Ben Fractenberg

We released a big story this week at THE CITY about Winnie Greco, a liaison to the Asian-American community for Mayor Eric Adams.

This was a true group effort, and the people who spoke with us explained disturbing behavior from someone close to the mayor. A former campaign volunteer told us how he asked Winnie for a job and was then hired at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs – but was directed by Winnie to help with the renovation of her kitchen instead of other work. 

Then there is the Chinese business executives who told us Winnie took campaign donations in exchange for invitations to events at Gracie Mansion. But the money wasn’t for the campaign. Instead, it was meant for her non-profit focused on building a “friendship archway” in Sunset Park.

There’s really so much in here that it’s hard to summarize, and I do encourage you to take the time to read it, especially to the end.

Read it all here. 

And: The modified November budget was released this week with “extremely painful” cuts across the board. [THE CITY]

🇹🇷The latest on the Adams investigation🇹🇷

Last Sunday the mayor railed against the leaks coming from the feds as he left a memorial for the victims of Flight 587 early. 

We reported Thursday that the feds are looking at a mayor’s office list that allegedly let big developers cut the FDNY line for building clearances. FDNY chiefs felt pressured to rubber stamp approvals, NBC New York reported. 

THE CITY also took a look at the history of inquiries in New York City mayors.

The New York Times named two more people whose homes were raided by the FBI, which includes a woman from the mayor’s international affairs office who also briefly showed up as an advance person this summer for him.

POLITICO dove through the archives to tally up the dozens of events Adams attended as Brooklyn borough president and mayor to honor Turkey. 

And we discussed the investigations and all things Mayor Adams on this week’s episode of the FAQ podcast. 

(Did I miss anything? Probably.)

🎧LISTEN 🎧

Andre 3000 dropped a new instrumental album this week and also released a cool playlist of some of his favorite jazz songs. You can listen here on Spotify. 

I spoke with WBUR about the Adams investigation. [WBUR]

And it’ll be THANKSGIVING before my next newsletter, so please enjoy this Thanksgiving song I wrote and recorded many moons ago with my friend Alex.

My last Queens Perennial bouquet of the season! Thanks for reading!