In the ongoing saga of embattled New York City mayor Eric Adams, two key figures have emerged as his gateway to the various parties seeking policies and decisions favorable to their interests. Winnie Greco and Rana Abbasova began their journeys with Adams back when he was Brooklyn borough president nearly a decade ago, eventually gaining paid positions working at City Hall.
A native of Azerbaijan, Rana Abbasova entered Adams’ orbit in 2016, beginning as a volunteer for the then-borough president of Brooklyn at a time when, according to the New York Times, he was looking to “make inroads to the Turkish and Azerbaijani communities.” She joined his staff in 2018 as “Community Coordinator and Advisor” Her official bio on the New York City government website states that during her time there, among other responsibilities, she “worked with Embassies and Consulates to build relationships between countries and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.” The bio also mentions that she aided Adams’ relationships with “Middle East and Central Asian countries, Muslim and Russian-speaking communities.” Staying with Adams after his move to City Hall, Abbasova continued in a similar line of work as “Director of Protocol in the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs.” According to the indictment against the mayor, Abbasova is alleged to have helped organize his frequent trips to Turkey and facilitate the creation of straw donors to allow foreign money into his campaign.
Her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey was raided last year as part of the FBI’s investigation into the mayor. Soon after, the mayor notified authorities that she had acted “improperly” by telling other staffers to delete their text messages, after which she was immediately placed on leave. According to the New York Post, she is cooperating with the FBI.
Winnie Greco’s trajectory mirrors Abbasova’s in multiple ways. Greco did not work directly for Adams during his stint in Brooklyn Borough Hall (neither as staff nor as a volunteer), but was involved with his political career at the time as an unpaid fundraiser, given the title of “Honorary Ambassador to the Brooklyn Borough President.” During that time, Greco pushed for a “Friendship Archway” in Brooklyn’s Chinatown in Sunset Park, an idea that Adams promoted by calling the project a “labor of love” in 2017, although the plan was eventually scrapped in 2020. A few years earlier, Adams had taken a trip to China paid for by a nonprofit run by Greco for the purpose of the archway’s construction, which raised over $200,000 for the project between 2013 and 2018 (the nonprofit is now run by another proponent of the archway project, who hopes for its completion by 2029). Emails obtained by local news outlet THE CITY indicate that she also arranged for two globe-spanning trips for Adams in 2017 valued at $50,000.
During Adams’ run for mayor, he was responsive to Greco’s role as a fundraiser, and to the community she tapped into for his campaign. After some fundraising events were cancelled due to Adams coming out against test requirements for entry into specialized high schools (which some in the Asian community strongly oppose), he reversed course after Greco arranged a meeting with Asian American community leaders. Greco joined Adams’ City Hall when he took office in 2022 as “Special Adviser to the Mayor and Director of Asian Affairs.”
Even before her home was raided by the FBI in February of this year, Greco was already under scrutiny from New York’s Department of Investigation over the awarding of a lease to a City-owned property under the Manhattan Bridge, which was given to an assortment of interests apparently connected to her. She also apparently stayed in a taxpayer-funded hotel suite for 8 months in 2022. Greco went on paid sick leave in March after her home was raided by the FBI in March, but returned to City Hall in August.
Adams has minimized his relationship with Greco, telling reporters “when I see her, I say ‘ni hao.’ You know, that’s ‘hello.” His lawyer, Alex Spiro, had some choice words regarding Abbasova’s cooperation with authorities: “the key witness lied to them and lied about this case and they’re aware of it.”
