Brooklyn BP Antonio Reynoso says he rejected gifts from Turkish officials

Turkish authorities officials offered to alert Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to Istanbul for escaped a fewer months aft helium took bureau successful 2022 — but Reynoso told the Daily News connected Monday helium turned down the airplane summons and returned different lavish acquisition they sent him retired of ineligible and ethical concerns.

The revelation astir Reynoso’s interactions — archetypal reported by PIX11 — comes connected the heels of national prosecutors past week indicting Mayor Adams, Reynoso’s Brooklyn BP predecessor, connected charges that helium solicited and accepted much than $100,000 successful concern people hose tickets and different luxury gifts from Turkish nationals.

The feds allege the freebies amounted to bribes arsenic Adams accepted them, some portion borough president and mayor, successful speech for doing governmental favors for the Turkish government, including helping it resoluteness gathering information issues astatine its Manhattan consulate.

In an interrogation with The News, Reynoso said representatives from the Turkish consulate came to his Borough Hall bureau successful March 2022 to speech astir issues related to Brooklyn’s Turkish diaspora.

“They met with maine and conscionable talked astir wanting to instrumentality maine to Istanbul, saying, ‘You should travel out,’ and I said if I’m connected abrogation and determine Turkey is wherever I privation to go, I tin cheque successful with you erstwhile I’m there,” helium said. “They said, ‘no, no, we tin instrumentality attraction of it.”

Reynoso, a erstwhile City Council member, said helium rejected the connection due to the fact that helium had agelong been taught nationalist officials similar himself were nether morals laws prohibited from accepting gifts worthy much than $50 from overseas authorities officials. “I knew these gifts were a batch much costly than that,” helium said.

But the Turkish officials tried again the adjacent day, erstwhile Reynoso said idiosyncratic from the consulate came backmost to his bureau wanting to acquisition him 8 gold-plated porcelain beverage cups. Reynoso said his wide counsel astatine Borough Hall promptly returned the beverage seats to the consulate.

“The determination I made was an idiosyncratic 1 that speaks to my enactment successful Borough Hall,” Reynoso said.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the corruption charges.

In a property league Monday, Alex Spiro, Adams’ pb lawyer successful the transgression case, was asked astir Reynoso’s acquisition rejections.

“I’m gladsome helium didn’t instrumentality the porcelain set. If helium had, it would not person been a national crime,” Spiro told reporters.