The groundbreakings must go on.

Mayor Eric Adams may be caught up in a federal investigation, but on Wednesday, he kept up his typically busy schedule, including kicking off construction on the new East End Studios film and TV production campus in Sunnyside, Queens.

But controversies continue to swirl around his administration.


What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Eric Adams continues to keep up a busy schedule, even as he faces questions about a federal investigation into his campaign fundraising

  • Separately, a report from the news outlet The City raised questions about Winnie Greco, a longtime advisor and the mayor’s director of Asian affairs

  • A former campaign volunteer told The City that Greco had him perform work on her home. Others said they were pressured to contribute to her nonprofit

A new report from the news outlet The City raised serious questions about Winnie Greco, a longtime advisor to the Mayor who currently serves as his director of Asian affairs.

A former Adams campaign volunteer told The City that Greco pressured him to do extensive work in her home in exchange for a job in the administration. Other individuals said Greco granted them special access in exchange for donations to her personal nonprofit.

Adams on Wednesday declined to weigh in.

“I’m not familiar with anything with Winnie Greco, so I can’t speak on something I’m not aware of,” he said in response to a question at an unrelated press conference.

Meanwhile, questions remain about the scope of the ongoing investigation into the mayor’s fundraising, which resulted in his phones and iPad being seized by investigators last week.

Asked if he’d received a grand jury subpoena, Adams said, “We are in full cooperation with the reviewers, and we’re going to continue to do so. You know more than I do. I’m going to continue to provide service.”

Also on Wednesday, NY1 confirmed that Ranna Abbasova, an official in the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, was the individual the Adams team recently reported to federal investigators for acting improperly.

Abbasova serves as a liaison with foreign governments, including Turkey, which is, reportedly, at the center of the federal fundraising probe.

Without identifying Abbasova by name, the mayor’s office said in a statement, “This individual was a junior staffer who was immediately placed on leave, and still remains on leave today. While we continue to cooperate with investigators, the most important thing to remember is that the mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing.”

“I’m a former law enforcement officer,” the mayor said at his earlier event. “I’ve said it over and over again. I am not going to interfere with the review. I’m going to let the review take its course.”