Andrew Cuomo has found his opening — and it comes in a bag of chips.
The former New York governor, testing a political comeback, seized on the bizarre scandal surrounding a suspended aide to Mayor Eric Adams who was caught on video accepting cash tucked inside a potato chip bag. Cuomo leaned into the moment with a cheeky campaign stunt, mocking Adams’ troubles while reminding voters of his own knack for theatrics.
At the press conference, Cuomo, an independent mayoral candidate for the city of New York and one of Adams’ potential rivals for the office, had his aides pass out bags of chips, quipping, “Sometimes, a bag of chips is just a bag of chips.”
“Only in New York could a bribery scheme look like a deli run,” Cuomo joked at an event Friday, brandishing his own bag of chips — this one empty, save for campaign flyers. “But at least my chips are transparent.”
Sometimes a bag of potato chips is just a bag of potato chips pic.twitter.com/sM9RAjhpv0
— Andrew Cuomo (@andrewcuomo) August 21, 2025
The gag drew laughs, but it also underscored how quickly Adams’ headaches are becoming fodder for rivals.
Earlier this week, a longtime adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Winnie Greco, has been suspended from her volunteer role in the mayor’s re-election campaign after she handed a local reporter a seemingly innocuous bag of potato chips that contained a red envelope loaded with cash.
Katie Honan, a reporter with The City, accepted the chips after Greco insisted, despite Honan initially declining, only to discover inside a red envelope containing at least one $100 bill and several $20s. Honan immediately reported the incident, calling the campaign office and the Department of Investigation.
In case you’re confused about why everyone is talking about chips… https://t.co/v1WkNf3FFx
— THE CITY (@THECITYNY) August 23, 2025
The incident has fueled a storm of late-summer ridicule, with memes ricocheting across social media and commentators pointing to the almost slapstick nature of the scandal.
For Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations he continues to deny, the potato chip fiasco is an unexpected gift — a chance to frame Adams as mired in absurd controversy while he positions himself as the seasoned alternative.
Political observers caution against reading too much into a salty one-liner. But in a city where politics often plays like theater, Cuomo may have found just the right prop. As one Brooklyn voter quipped on X: “If this is the level of corruption, I guess we’re snacking our way through City Hall.”
Politically, the incident lands amid already heightened scrutiny of the Adams circle. Greco had resigned from her official City Hall post last year amid FBI investigation, her property raided in connection with campaign fundraising concerns. Now, what appears to be a misguided — or comedic — gesture could become a symbol of real ethical lapses and raise red flags in the ongoing corruption investigation.
For now, Adams is left to explain how a bag of chips became the punchline of New York politics.
