Several supporters of Mayor Eric Adams, including two prominent Greenpoint business owners, have now been indicted on corruption and conspiracy charges.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the city’s Department of Investigation brought the charges against the defendants on Thursday morning. Gina and Anthony “Tony” Argento, Adams donors and siblings who own the Greenpoint-based Broadway Stages production company, were indicted on charges of conspiracy in the fourth degree. They allegedly bribed Adams’ closest advisor and Argento family friend, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, into using her influence to kill the McGuinness Boulevard redesign.
According to the indictment filing,“it was also part of this conspiracy that, in exchange for her official intervention, Gina Argento, Anthony ‘Tony’ Argento, and Broadway Stages gave Ingrid Lewis-Martin a monetary payment and other benefits, including a speaking role in a television production and catering services for an event at Gracie Mansion.”
The charges are alleged to have occurred between approximately March 2022 and November 2024.
The plan also included Lewis-Martin directing an unknown individual with connections to Brooklyn’s Community Board 1 to pressure the board into opposing the redesign (Gina Argento was also a member of the board’s transportation committee at this time).
It’s the latest development for a long-running issue that has divided the Greenpoint community. After the hit-and-run killing of local teacher Matthew Jensen in 2021, community advocates mounted a campaign, Make McGuinness Safe, to implement more safety features on the boulevard. Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio greenlit the project with the city’s Department of Transportation, which spent the next two years soliciting neighborhood feedback and gathering data. Though the redesign was built on buy-in from the community, some Greenpoint residents opposed the changes and created their own oppositional campaign, Keep McGuinness Moving.
The DOT revealed its plan for the redesign in 2023 and was set to implement it before Adams directed them to scrap it, reportedly due to pressure Lewis-Martin. Reporting from THE CITY also found that two-thirds of the businesses listed as Keep McGuinness Moving supporters were actually LLCs with ties to Broadway Stages and the Argentos. It was also around this time that Broadway Stages hosted an ostensibly public town hall with local elected officials but physically barred redesign supporters from entering. The indictment filing revealed that shortly after the meeting, “Gina Argento sent $2,500 via Zelle to Ingrid Lewis-Martin.”
“We do not care what they say. We are ignoring them and continuing with our plan. They can kiss my ass,” Lewis-Martin texted Gina Argento in July 2023, in response to receiving a Make McGuinness Safe flyer.
A truncated version of the redesign was finally allowed to go through last year, shortly after authorities had subpoenaed Ingrid Lewis-Martin in another corruption case. She resigned late last year. Investigators had seized Gina Argento’s phone last year in connection with the case.
Lewis-Martin was also indicted again this morning, accused of accepting $75,000 in bribes. She has denied any wrongdoing, previously claiming that she had been falsely accused.
“The expected charges on Thursday would not be the first time the Argento family has drawn legal scrutiny,” The New York Times reports.
“During a federal corruption investigation into Mr. Adams’s predecessor, Bill de Blasio, the Argentos’ donations to a nonprofit supporting his agenda caught the eye of prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. But after a high-profile inquiry, they declined to bring charges against Mr. de Blasio, citing the high burden of proof.”
The news arrives amidst troubling times for the incumbent mayor, whose time in office has been mired in scandal and frequent allegations of cronyism in his administration. This erosion of trust is reflected in dismal poll numbers during his current reelection campaign.
In light of the charges, Make McGuinness Safe called on the mayor to fully implement the redesign.
“Thanks to Eric Adams, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, and the Argento family’s interference in the city’s redesign of McGuinness Boulevard, half of the roadway remains dangerous and confusing today. We demand that Mayor Adams immediately direct the Department of Transportation to complete the full road diet — a plan that should have been protecting our community for the past two years.
The grassroots campaign to Make McGuinness Safe was born from grief, led by families determined to protect their children. Those same children have now seen firsthand how power and money can corrupt the public good — but they have also seen how a community can unite with grace, resilience, and resolve. Many of them already cross a safer McGuinness Boulevard on their way to school; to deny the rest of the boulevard the same safety would be unthinkable.”
Bronwyn Breitner, an organizer with Make McGuinness Safe.
George Stamboulidis and Artie McConnell, lawyers representing the Argentos, provided a statement denying any wrongdoing, calling the charges “baseless.”
Good scoop. Well written. Adams is making boss Tweed look like Mother Theresa. Since these are city charges, these alleged crooks can’t kiss King Trump’s backside to get out of jail free if convicted.
While I am opposed to civic corruption, turning McGuinness Blvd into a one-way car roadway at a BQE access point is just not smart urban planning. Reducing car lanes on a major roadway while also doubling the residential population of Greenpoint does not make any sense. Greenpoint used to be a neighborhood where people had garages to work on antique cars and motorcycles. Have you driven down McGuiness late at night in February? There are no bikes – but cars are backed up for blocks. I am a life long democrat. These changes are terrible for our community. Anthony Argento was right – this change makes no sense given the changing demographic of Greenpoint (i.e., radical increase in residential population). I am sorry that he used unlawful means for his objective – but, as a 20 year resident of Greenpoint, I do not think the plan to reduce car access on McGuinness was fully vetted with the community. It is/was a terrible idea and has brought a terrible outcome for residents and the community.