Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYPD Spokesman Once Recruited By Russian Spy
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 6, 2010
Modified Jul 6, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
left
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 6, 2010
Modified Jul 6, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Everyone is so distracted by "sexy" alleged Russian spy Anna Chapman and her topless photos and "kinky" sex life* (unclear if she wore the tiara), we're not sure if they noticed this Wall Street Journal article about NYPD Deputy Commissioner and spokesman Paul Browne—he says a Russian spy tried to recruit him in the 1970s!
In 1973, Browne was taking a journalism course taught at the United Nations (he was getting his master's at Columbia during his leave from the Watertown Daily Times) when "he met and became friendly with Alex Yakovlev, a 32-year-old who broadcast U.N. news to Eastern Europe." From the WSJ:
Mr. Yakovlev started wooing Mr. Browne over drinks and dinner. At one point, he offered Mr. Browne $30 to write a freelance article "on anything you wish." At a subsequent dinner, Mr. Yakovlev questioned Mr. Browne about his teachers and asked if there were any foreign students in his class. He offered to pay Mr. Browne for notes he took in his class and for the names of any diplomats Mr. Browne quoted anonymously in stories he wrote for the course.
Mr. Yakovlev also asked Mr. Browne to pretend he didn't know him if they saw each other in the U.N. building. In the future, Mr. Yakovlev said of their relationship, "when you work for a position at a big newspaper or a government position—maybe even your friends would use it against you." That was enough for Mr. Browne. He called one of his teachers, who then called the dean, who recommended that the FBI get involved.
The FBI believed that Browne was being recruited to be an "agent of influence... They were investing in Mr. Browne in hopes they could use the association to blackmail him later if he achieved an influential position." Like NYPD Deputy Commissioner? Or Treasury Department staffer?
To help the FBI, Browne continued to meet with Yakovlev, even giving him a freelance article about suburban New Yorkers' reaction to Watergate, which the Russian happily accepted, paying him $30 (in tens, which Browne turned over to the FBI). But in 1975, Browne ended contact with Yakovlev (and the meetings with stale Cuban cigars!) ultimately writing about his experience in the Washington Post. Now he realizes, "In retrospect, the Russians were in it for the long haul. Had I been turned, it would have paid dividends for them years later."
* As for Chapman, her friends are slamming her ex-husband for divulging the topless pictures and stories of their marriage. One said, "We are simply outraged by what Anna's ex-husband has been saying about her. Anna did not like to remember about her early failed marriage," adding, "He was not a man but a rag. The way he is behaving now at this difficult period in her life is only further proof of that. Besmirching your former wife like this is base."
Tagged
agent of influence
anna chapman
nypd
paul browne
Russian spy
spies
spy recruitment
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NY's housing crisis is on the ballot. Here's what the candidates say they'll do about it.
Housing costs are top of mind for many voters across New York.
By
David Brand
Published Oct 29, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway is a haven for reckless driving. Mamdani isn't allowed to fix it.
City data shows seven people have been killed and 74 were seriously injured in crashes along the street over the last five years.
By
Stephen Nessen
News
Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway is a haven for reckless driving. Mamdani isn't allowed to fix it.
City data shows seven people have been killed and 74 were seriously injured in crashes along the street over the last five years.
By
Stephen Nessen
Man killed in police-involved shooting in Moonachie, NJ
By
Kaya Laterman
Queens man took girlfriend’s body to beach in a wagon, where it remained for 5 days
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends NYC racial equity leader's term after Council pushes back on replacement
By
Elizabeth Kim
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .