Antonio Reynoso, Eric Adams’ successor as Brooklyn Borough President, recently made headlines for returning ten porcelain tea sets gifted to him by the Turkish government. This decision came after Reynoso was sworn into office, a time when gifts from foreign governments can be seen as gestures of goodwill but also potential ethical pitfalls.
At first, the story may appear to be quirky, why return tea sets to a country that offered a good wish gift? But placed in the context of the recent—and escalating—legal troubles that Eric Adams and top officials of his administration are facing, the gesture carries the weight of international diplomacy and the complexities of accepting gifts in a political role. Accepting gifts from foreign governments, even when as innocuous as tea sets, may cloud the necessary transparency that creates trust in public administrations.
Reynoso’s choice to return the gifts may reflect a commitment to maintaining that transparency and avoiding any appearance of impropriety. Was Reynoso’s action totally disinterested or was it to distance himself from the sorts of murky transactions that have marred the Adams administration? Is it just a coup of virtue signaling?
An article in The New York Times describes how Reynoso’s decision came about. Having followed in Adams’ footsteps as Brooklyn Borough President, he started to adopt some of the day-to-day activities that as previous Borough President, the current mayor had inadvertently modeled: Reynoso “began to engage in activities one might not normally associate with his local office: international relations. When foreign consulates reached out, he took meetings, holding as many as two to three a week. When consulate officials and local leaders asked him to lead ceremonial events celebrating their countries’ heritage, he agreed.”
This led to an escalating series of gifts starting from the very modest bookmark or bottle of wine to expensive travel junkets. Then came the ten gold-plated tea sets from the Turkish consulate. Reynoso woke up to the pitfalls facing him. Warned by the FBI to beware of gifts from foreign nationals, Reynoso responded with a letter to the Turkish consulate. “As much as we are grateful for these gifts, I have been advised by my counsel that I must return them to you,” Reynoso wrote in a letter in March 2022 to Reyhan Özgür, the former Turkish consul general in New York.
Özgür turned out to be a prominent figure in the indictment against Mayor Adams. He was accused of helping arrange free and subsidized travel on Turkish Airlines for the mayor and his associates and of facilitating illegal straw donations from foreign nationals for Mr. Adams’s campaign.
In the end, Reynoso had a lucky escape by returning the gold-plated tea sets, thereby drawing a line in the sand and short-circuiting any legal troubles of the kind that are now plaguing the New York City Mayor and top officials of his administration.
The story of the returned tea sets is more than just a political anecdote; it’s a reflection of the bigger question of politicians and ethics that is part of the national conversation. Witness the tremendous scandals that have grinded down the reputation of Justice Clarence Thomas.
It’s also a cautionary tale for those politicians and officials who are confused about where to draw the line on accepting gifts. The answer is: accept none, not even those as harmless as tea sets.
