Quiz: Was NYC Mayor Adams given a bribe or a gratuity? The difference is a big deal.

WNYC News

Mayor Eric Adams says he wasn’t being bribed when Turkish nationals gave him more than $100,000 worth of business-class plane tickets, luxurious hotel suites and ritzy nights out on the town in Istanbul.

Federal prosecutors disagree. They say the glamorous travel perks were bribes that Adams accepted in exchange for pressuring FDNY officials to allow a new Turkish consulate to open before the building could pass a safety inspection.

On Friday, both sides will make their arguments in court at the first major hearing in Adams’ federal corruption case. The mayor’s attorneys are asking a judge to throw out the bribery charge in his five-count indictment.

Adams’ argument hinges on a few recent U.S. Supreme Court cases that legal experts say have made it harder to convict people of federal corruption charges. A judge will have to decide whether the flight upgrades were illegal, or merely unsavory. Legal experts say it largely comes down to one key question: Were the gifts a gratuity (a token of appreciation with no arrangement ahead of time) or was there a “quid pro quo” (a deal to trade gifts for influence)? In many cases, they say, the line is blurry.

So how can Gothamist readers know if the gift cards, gold bars, wads of cash or free upgrades on international flights they may be offered are bribes or gratuities under federal law? We used some real-life and hypothetical examples to make this quiz.