Gina and Tony Argento run Broadway Stages and allegedly paid bribes to an aide to Mayor Adams to block a safety redesign on McGuinness Boulevard. The pair allegedly provided $2,500 in cash, paid a $10,000 catering bill for a Gracie Mansion party, and arranged a walk-on role for the aide in an episode of Godfather of Harlem. The Argentos have been significant donors to Mayor Adams and the Brooklyn Democratic Party and previously used influence to oppose bike lanes and road diets in north Brooklyn. After a 2021 fatal crash on McGuinness, the de Blasio administration pledged a $40 million redesign. The indictment charges the pair with felonies that could carry up to 11 years in prison.
Imagine destroying everything you've spent decades building - an internationally known theatrical production company, citywide influence and plenty of neighborhood sway - to stop the city from building a bike lane. But this is exactly where Gina and Tony Argento, the sibling team that runs the Greenpoint soundstage company Broadway Stages, find themselves, indicted on Thursday by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for bribing an aide to Mayor Adams to get her to block the safety redesign on McGuinness Boulevard.
The pair allegedly spent $2,500 on a direct cash bribe, plus picked up a $10,000 catering bill so that the aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, could throw a party at Gracie Mansion, and got her a walk-on role in an episode of "Godfather of Harlem," which filmed at Broadway Stages. The pair has also been big donors to Mayor Adams and the Brooklyn Democratic Party political machine.
After a beloved local teacher was run down and killed on McGuinness in 2021 - one of 15 people killed since 1995 - the outpouring of support for a redesign of the street was so overwhelming that the de Blasio administration pledged a $40-million redesign to remove two lanes from the highway-like roadway and install a protected bike lane. The Argentos got around to flexing their political muscle - which included opening their wallets -
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