A real estate mogul bought her way into the New York mayor’s inner circle – and then the favors started

Weihong Hu raised money for Eric Adams’ campaign and helped his friends while winning favorable regulatory decisions and city contract funds, an investigation by the Guardian US, the City and Documented has found

An ambitious hotel developer held multiple, previously unreported fundraisers with the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, and provided benefits to several of the mayor’s longtime associates. She then scored behind-the-scenes favors and millions more in city contract dollars from his administration, a new investigation by the Guardian US, the City and Documented has found.

That fundraiser, Weihong Hu, was previously the subject of a February investigation by this reporting partnership which unearthed allegations that Hu’s family secretly bankrolled illegal donations to Adams’ re-election campaign.