Winnie Greco, the mayoral aide whose homes were raided by federal law enforcement last week, has been added to a list of City Hall staffers and advisors who have “substantial” influence over policy, according to newly filed documents.
A senior advisor and director of Asian affairs for Mayor Eric Adams, Greco was included in the annual “substantial policy discretion” list published Wednesday by the city Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB). Her addition came just a day before the FBI descended on Greco’s two Bronx homes, as well as the New World Mall, where she worked in a rented Adams campaign office in 2021.
A city employee must be included on the list if “he or she has major responsibilities and exercises independent judgment in connection with determining important agency matters” — a criteria City Hall determined Greco met for the first time this year.
She joined a few dozen other people from the mayor’s office on that list for the first time since being hired by the administration at the start of 2022 – and joins more than 3,000 people across city government also on the list.
The mayor’s office doubled the number of their staffers added to this list between 2022 and 2023.
A COIB official told THE CITY that it “works with city agencies to assist them in the compilation of their substantial policymaker lists” but would not confirm if they recommended more people be added to the list.
Under the city’s rules, employees on the list are barred from fundraising for anyone running for citywide office, City Council or borough presidents. They are also restricted from holding any political party position, like as an assembly district leader or a national or state committee member, according to COIB.
A spokesman for Adams declined to comment, but sent along information to note that inclusion on the list is broad and defined by COIB. The official said Greco advised the administration on issues affecting the city’s Asian-American communities.
Greco reports directly to the mayor, Politico reported Monday, an unusual arrangement for a community liaison. She was a steady presence at the mayor’s side at Asian community events and campaign fundraisers, particularly in Chinese communities from Flushing to Sunset Park. It’s unclear what policy Greco oversaw in her position.
The FBI raid has brought further scrutiny to the longtime Adams ally, who was the subject of an investigation by THE CITY last year. Federal authorities also raided a Queens mall where Greco had operated an Adams 2021 campaign office, and where THE CITY had revealed donations made by workers who said they were reimbursed or pressured by management to give.
A former tech worker told THE CITY that after he was hired in July 2022 to work in the Office of Immigrant Affairs, which Greco does not oversee, he was repeatedly asked to come to her office to respond to her emails and translate English-language messages into Chinese for her. The worker, who was a volunteer on the Adams 2021 campaign, said that he got his job on the condition that he volunteer to assist Greco on renovations to one of her Bronx homes, which included buying, unloading and stacking supplies from Home Depot.
The city’s Department of Investigation opened their own probe in Nov. 2023 immediately following THE CITY’s Greco investigation.
Greco is still on medical leave after having a health episode during the FBI raid, according to Levy.
She first encountered Adams as Brooklyn borough president, where she served without government pay as his “ambassador” to Asian communities and simultaneously led a nonprofit group with a mission to raise money to install a commemorative Sunset Park archway. Greco also organized multiple fundraisers for Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign when she wasn’t also raising money for her proposed “friendship archway” between Brooklyn and China in Sunset Park.
She began her $100,000-a-year role at the start of 2022, and officially worked out of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs on the seventh floor of 253 Broadway, across the street from City Hall. She was regularly seen at City Hall, though, bringing guests over to the mayor’s side of the building – but also frequently had meetings at Dim Sum Palace in Chinatown, according to the restaurant’s manager.
She often traveled to events with an assistant named Jasper Diaz, who works officially for City Hall as a special assistant focused on state legislative priorities for Adams.
Diaz volunteered on the Adams mayoral campaign, according to his LinkedIn profile, working first as a regional coordinator and then a Manhattan coordinator after the primary, before he was hired in the administration to work on the mayor’s state legislative priorities.
He told THE CITY at a public event last year that he worked as Greco’s “assistant,” but said Monday he wasn’t authorized to speak to the press.
He’s registered to lobby on behalf of the mayor up in Albany, according to state documents. His LinkedIn profile says he oversees member engagement and outreach for the mayor’s state legislative affairs office, while also “serving as a point facilitator to mediate conversations between state legislators and the administration.”
Adams has repeatedly stressed the urgency of state support for his legislative agenda. Among his demands to state lawmakers are more money to help the city handle the migrant crisis, changes to state law to enable more housing development and an extension of mayoral control of public schools.
Diaz was frequently seen with Greco at mostly evening events around New York City, from a town hall in Corona in December to the Museum of the Chinese in America’s gala in November.
A spokesperson for Adams declined to comment but noted Diaz helps in community affairs work.