Tawdry tabloid
Post cop chief fired for tryst with hooker/witness
THE NEW YORK Post’s police bureau chief was axed after admitting he had an affair with a hooker who’s the star witness in a federal cop corruption probe while he was covering the high profile case.
Post reporter Shawn Cohen, 48, was fired Thursday without public explanation by the tabloid’s editors.
Late Friday, Cohen admitted in an emailed statement to the Daily News that he’d had an illconsidered affair with Gabi Grecko, a prostitute who prosecutors say provided sex to some NYPD cops during a flight to Las Vegas arranged by two Brooklyn businessmen intent on currying favor from the department.
Cohen penned a June 2016 front-page story featuring Grecko (both pictured), who recounted in lurid detail a salacious flight in which she posed as a flight attendant and sexually serviced several top cops.
Confronted by The News about his relationship with Grecko Friday, Cohen released a brief statement confessing to the affair and expressing regret.
“Following the publication of a news article I wrote about a witness in an investigation, we had a brief personal relationship. As a journalist, I certainly appreciate how this looks given her past profession and the fact I’d written about her, but the reality is quite innocent. That said, I should have exercised better judgment because of the particular circumstances involved here and because I continued to cover related topics.”
Grecko is, in fact, expected to be the star of the upcoming trial of NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant and his friend, Brooklyn businessman Jeremy Reichberg. Both have denied wrongdoing and aggressively fought the charges in a trial set to begin later this month.
In June, the Post ran a frontpage article featuring Grecko recounting a graphic play by play of the February 2013 flight to Sin City, in which provided sexual favors to the NYPD passengers.
After that story, Cohen continued to cover the case, even as he participated in a relationship with Grecko. His byline appeared on at least three other stories after the front-page Grecko splash.
Cohen’s Twitter page had disappeared by Friday morning.
Joining the pricey prostitute on the flight with Grant was the subsequently-fired Detective Michael Milici.
On Friday, Grecko’s lawyer declined to comment, and a spokeswoman for the Post would not comment.