A longtime aide to embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams has stepped down.
Winnie Greco, director of the city’s Asian Affairs, resigned to her post on Monday after more than a decade working closely with Adams as a liaison between him, in his different capacities, and the Asian American community. Her resignation comes after Greco and several other Adams aides were raided by the FBI earlier this year.
“Both Winnie Greco and Mohamed Bahi today tendered their resignations. We thank them for their service to the city,” a spokesperson for City Hall said in a statement to NBC New York, referring also to Bahi, another aide who was part of the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit.
Manhattan federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Bahi, a former NYC City Hall official, in connection with the ongoing criminal investigation into alleged straw donations and the 2021 campaign to elect Adams, court documents show.
Greco’s two Bronx properties were raided by FBI agents in late February. Agents also searched her Flushing, Queens, office at the New World Mall as part of the investigation. The mayor’s office said that during the ordeal, Greco suffered a “medical episode” that prompted federal authorities to request an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Greco was put on leave amid the investigation, but she returned to work in May.
Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, told NBC News in an email that after her properties were searched and devices seized, he has “heard or been told nothing.” Her decision to resign was made “on her own volition.”
“It is a sad ending to her admirable career as a public servant where she spent the last 30 years dedicating herself to helping in particular the Asian community in New York,” Brill said in a statement.
Greco has been the conduit between the mayor and Chinese American communities in particular over the past few years, showing up in support of Adams at local community events across Flushing and other enclaves. But Greco has been connected to Adams since his days as Brooklyn Borough president, even accompanying him on trips to China. And when Adams was sworn in as mayor, she was among the few officials appearing behind him on the dais in Times Square. Greco, who previously ran a food export business, was appointed a special assistant role under the Adams administration, making $100,000 a year.
Greco’s resignation comes after Adams was charged with bribery and wire fraud in late September. Adams received $100,000 worth of free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays from wealthy Turkish nationals, and racked up millions in illegal campaign contributions, in exchange for favors for his foreign benefactors, according to a 57-page federal indictment.
Greco is among several top aides marred in controversies coinciding with the Adams investigation. It’s unclear, however, if the raid of Greco’s properties was connected to Adams dealings with foreign officials.
Bahi faces a single count of witness tampering and a count of destruction of records, according to the complaint.
Rana Abbasova, another longtime aide of Adams who worked as the director of protocol in the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, was fired on Monday. The home of Abbasova, a liaison to the Turkish community, was raided by authorities last year. Attorneys for Abbasova declined NBC New York’s request for comment.
