The AC&C Board of Directors
There are 7 seats on the AC&C Board. Three (3) are reserved for City government officials: the DOH, NYPD, and Parks
& Recreation. The remaining 4 seats are for so-called “independent” directors (all of whom are selected by Mayor
Bloomberg). Directors never challenge the DOH or the Mayor. They do what’s best for the DOH and the Mayor.
The "ex-officio" board members from the City are:
THOMAS FARLEY, M.D
Commissioner
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Chairman of the AC&C Board of Directors
125 Worth Street, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212) 295-5347 Fax: (212) 295-5426
e-mail: tfarley@health.nyc.gov
In September 2009, Mayor Bloomberg appointed Dr. Farley to succeed former Commissioner Thomas Frieden as the
DOH Commissioner. In that position, Dr. Farley had a reserved seat on the AC&C Board. His fellow directors
immediately voted him their chairman. As one of his first acts, Dr. Farley approved the DOH’s appeal from a court order
that it must create full service shelters in the Bronx and Queens ASAP.
Adrian Benepe
Commissioner of NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
The Arsenal, Central Park, 830 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Tel: 800 201-Park; Dial 311 for all Parks & Recreation Information
Adrian.Benepe@parks.ny.gov
Commissioner Benepe has a reserved seat on the AC&C Board. He has not been seen at AC&C Board meetings for
years. Commissioner Benepe facilitates access to parks for adoption events hosted by the Mayor’s Alliance. He
demonstrates little or no interest in improving the plight of shelter animals.
Inspector David Colon
Mr. Colon he is the newest Representative for NYPD Community Affairs.
Inspector David Colon
Deputy Inspector - 23rd Precinct
162 East 102nd Street
New York, NY 10029
212-860-6411
The "independent" board members (all chosen by Mayor Bloomberg):
JAY KUHLMAN, DVM
Gramercy Animal Hospital
37 East 19th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tel. 212-477-4080; fax (212) 254-7497
sjkuhlman@aol.com
A veterinarian. Genuinely cares about the plight of shelter animals but has never publicly
protested the DOH’s stewardship of the ACC or the actions and inaction of his fellow board
members. Even when the AC&C dismantled its dog walking program, Dr. Kuhlman did not raise a complaint.
JOHN M.B. O’CONNOR
joc@jocnewyork.com
Former partner at JP Morgan Partners and now CEO of J.H. Whitney Investment Management
in Manhattan. He has always closely allied himself with the Health Commissioner. He had been the AC&C’s treasurer for
four years. A blood sport hunter and ACC's most hostile board member to animal welfare issues. He has twice stated at
Board meetings that the AC&C directors have no control over the AC&C’s budget. Really? Even though the
Commissioner of the DOH (which sets the AC&C’s budget) is Chairman of the AC&C Board! Through the years, Mr. O’
Connor has never employed his touted financial expertise to raise monies for the AC&C. Apparently, his overriding
concern is to ensure that nothing at the AC&C embarrasses his “friend,” Mayor Bloomberg.
BRUCE DONIGER
AC&C Treasurer
E-Mail: bbdoniger@yahoo.com
Appointed in Oct 2004. President and CEO of The J.E. & Z.B Butler Foundation, a nonprofit that
benefits at-risk youth and individuals with special needs. He is a decent man who is very involved in helping people.
However, he has no burning interest in animal affairs, nor expertise in running a shelter. Yet, he ran the AC&C for 7
months as “interim” Executive Director in 2007.
PATRICK NOLAN
VP Marketing, Penguin Group Publishing
Patrick.Nolan@us.penguingroup.com
Appointed in March 2007 to fill a nine-month vacancy and now apparently a permanent member
of the Board. He remains an unknown entity. Although described by a fellow director as an animal lover and a master of
advertising, Mr. Nolan has done nothing to advance the AC&C’s cause or help its animals.
Samples of correspondence between Shelter Reform and AC&C Directors:
----- Original Message -----
From: SRAC
To: Adrian Benepe
Cc: Bruce Doniger ; Dr. Jay Kuhlman ; Dr. Thomas Farley ; Edgar Butts ; John M. B. O'Connor ; Lt. Thomas J. Swanson ;
Norma Torres ; Patrick Nolan
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 6:39 PM
Subject: Please Acknowledge Your Conflict of Interest, and Resign from the AC&C Board
May 20, 2010
Commissioner Adrian Benepe
Dear Commissioner Benepe,
Thank you for the courtesy of your reply to Shelter Reform Action Committee’s e-mail (posted at the bottom of this e-
mail, entitled “Honor Your Fiduciary Duty to Animal Care & Control and its Animals).” As we previously stated, our
position is that every AC&C Director faces an irreconcilable conflict of interest and should resign.
Your response is printed immediately below with our comments in red.
Sincerely,
Shelter Reform Action Committee www.shelterreform.org
[The e-mail to Commissioner Benepe was sent through his office message link:http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.
html ]
Commissioner Benepe’s Reply to Shelter Reform With SRAC's Response in Red:
From: Benepe, Adrian <Adrian.Benepe@parks.nyc.gov>
Subject: Your Email to Parks
To: info@shelterreform.org
Date: Friday, April 30, 2010, 2:09 PM
Dear Ms. Koslow:
Thank you for your email regarding Animal Care and Control of New York City (AC&C).
I am honored by and take seriously my position as a Board Member of AC&C, and I am committed to working with AC&C
leadership and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH) to improve AC&C’s processes and
strengthen its programs.
You are not known as an animal advocate or a leader in animal rescue. You are guaranteed a seat on the AC&C board
solely by virtue of being the Commissioner of Parks & Recreation. You haven’t attended an AC&C Board meeting in
years. You do not visit the shelters. What AC&C “leadership” do you work with, because it keeps changing? The Board
has gone through eight (8) AC&C Executive Directors in as many years.
AC&C and DOH are committed to the health and safety of New York’s animals.
The DOH has no mandate to care for animals, and hence no commitment to them. For 15 years the AC&C Board has
never challenged or criticized the DOH’s failure to provide proper funding, buildings, and leadership for the AC&C. The
Board votes in lockstep with the DOH.
Since 2000, AC&C has reduced euthanasia by more than 50 percent and has increased the number of animals adopted
by more than 65 percent. Rescue groups play a key role through the New Hope program, providing needed care and
placement of thousands of animals in good homes. AC&C will continue efforts to increase the number of animals that
are adopted and reduce the number that are euthanized.
Rescue groups – not the AC&C Board or the DOH – are indeed responsible for increased “adoptions” (meaning --
animals pulled by rescuers). They do so (in large part) with the aid of grant monies funneled through the Mayor’s
Alliance. Despite its name, the Mayor’s Alliance receives not one penny from the Mayor, the City, or the DOH. When
the Alliance’s grant monies end next year, what will happen to the rescuers who already struggle to pay vet bills and find
adopters for the animals they pull?
Please don’t forget: despite the rescuers’ valiant efforts, at least one out of every three animals will be killed at the
AC&C. Those are daunting odds for any animal landing at the AC&C.
There has been ongoing progress in improving shelter coverage in the Bronx and Queens. Community involvement,
land use zoning reviews, and budgetary issues have led to additional challenges. The Board and AC&C are working
with the Department of Design and Construction and DOH to achieve our goal of improving Citywide shelter coverage.
The DOH and the Mayor have had 10 years to create the mandated shelters. It’s odd to insist there’s “ongoing
progress,” particularly as a New York Supreme court recently ruled that there has been none.
Commissioner Benepe, you do a fine job overseeing our City’s parks, but shouldn't have a seat on the AC&C board.
Please resign.
For more information on AC&C’s programs and initiatives, please visit their web site at www.nycacc.org.
Thank you for your commitment to New York City’s homeless animals.
Sincerely,
Adrian Benepe
SRAC's letter to the Directors of Animal Care and Control:
From: SRAC <info@shelterreform.org>
Subject: Honor Your Fiduciary Duty to Animal Care & Control and its Animals
To: "Dr. Jay Kuhlman" <sjkuhlman@aol.com>, "Dr. Thomas Farley" <tfarley@health.nyc.gov>, "Patrick Nolan" <Patrick.
Nolan@us.penguingroup.com>, "Lt. Thomas J. Swanson" <thomas.swanson@nypd.org>, "Bruce Doniger"
<bbdoniger@yahoo.com>, "John M. B. O'Connor" <joc@jocnewyork.com>
Date: Friday, February 19, 2010, 11:03 PM
Dear Directors of Animal Care and Control (AC&C):
The Mayor and/or the Department of Health (DOH) appointed you to serve on the AC&C Board.
No Director has ever objected to the DOH’s failure to obey the 2000 Shelters and Sterilization Law, requiring the DOH to
create full service shelters in the Bronx and in Queens (the "Animal Shelters Law"). Moreover, you sit quietly as the
DOH appeals from a September 2009 court ruling that it has violated that law. One of the DOH's defenses to that
lawsuit is that it has "substantially complied" with the Animal Shelters law. Do you agree that not having those shelters is
the equivalent of having them? How often (if ever) have each of you visited the AC&C shelters to see the overcrowding
for yourself?
None of you have objected as the DOH continues, year after year, to underfund the AC&C. When public attendees at
Board meetings challenge the inadequate funding, directors (such as Mr. O'Connor) respond that the AC&C Directors
have no power or influence over the AC&C's budget.
Really? The DOH sets the AC&C's budget. The head of the AC&C Board is the DOH Commissioner. Why haven't you
turned to your fellow AC&C Director, the DOH Commissioner, and complained?
Shelter Reform Action Committee (www.shelterreform.org) is a coalition of animal advocate organizations, rescuers,
AC&C volunteers, former AC&C employees and concerned citizens. Since the creation of the AC&C in 1995, Shelter
Reform has fought to expose and correct the dysfunction that plagues our City's animal shelter system.
For all of its 15-year history, the AC&C has suffered from insufficient funding and inadequate “shelters” (i.e., former
factories). Only once did AC&C directors publicly complain about conditions at the AC&C. The two directors who spoke
out were quickly sent packing. That is how the DOH and the Mayor --- through their supporters on the AC&C board --
dealt with AC&C Directors who dared exercise their fiduciary duty.
The DOH’s malfeasance doesn’t excuse you from performing your fiduciary duty to the AC&C.
You cannot serve two masters. By protecting the Mayor and rubber-stamping the DOH, you have breached your
fiduciary duty to the AC&C and its animals.
Shelter Reform requests that you either fulfill your obligation to the AC&C and its animals, or resign and let true
advocates for homeless companion animals take your place on the Board. Otherwise, your continued presence on the
Board is an embarrassment and, not incidentally, a violation of the law.
Sincerely,
Shelter Reform Action Committee (www.shelterreform.org)
Jennifer Panton and Esther Koslow, Co-chairs
Lynn Grossman, Secretary
Abbe Chant, Treasurer
Dr. Farley's answer to the SRAC letter:
There are 7 seats on the AC&C Board. Three (3) are reserved for City government officials: the DOH, NYPD, and Parks
& Recreation. The remaining 4 seats are for so-called “independent” directors (all of whom are selected by Mayor
Bloomberg). Directors never challenge the DOH or the Mayor. They do what’s best for the DOH and the Mayor.
The "ex-officio" board members from the City are:
THOMAS FARLEY, M.D
Commissioner
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Chairman of the AC&C Board of Directors
125 Worth Street, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212) 295-5347 Fax: (212) 295-5426
e-mail: tfarley@health.nyc.gov
In September 2009, Mayor Bloomberg appointed Dr. Farley to succeed former Commissioner Thomas Frieden as the
DOH Commissioner. In that position, Dr. Farley had a reserved seat on the AC&C Board. His fellow directors
immediately voted him their chairman. As one of his first acts, Dr. Farley approved the DOH’s appeal from a court order
that it must create full service shelters in the Bronx and Queens ASAP.
Adrian Benepe
Commissioner of NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
The Arsenal, Central Park, 830 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Tel: 800 201-Park; Dial 311 for all Parks & Recreation Information
Adrian.Benepe@parks.ny.gov
Commissioner Benepe has a reserved seat on the AC&C Board. He has not been seen at AC&C Board meetings for
years. Commissioner Benepe facilitates access to parks for adoption events hosted by the Mayor’s Alliance. He
demonstrates little or no interest in improving the plight of shelter animals.
Inspector David Colon
Mr. Colon he is the newest Representative for NYPD Community Affairs.
Inspector David Colon
Deputy Inspector - 23rd Precinct
162 East 102nd Street
New York, NY 10029
212-860-6411
The "independent" board members (all chosen by Mayor Bloomberg):
JAY KUHLMAN, DVM
Gramercy Animal Hospital
37 East 19th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tel. 212-477-4080; fax (212) 254-7497
sjkuhlman@aol.com
A veterinarian. Genuinely cares about the plight of shelter animals but has never publicly
protested the DOH’s stewardship of the ACC or the actions and inaction of his fellow board
members. Even when the AC&C dismantled its dog walking program, Dr. Kuhlman did not raise a complaint.
JOHN M.B. O’CONNOR
joc@jocnewyork.com
Former partner at JP Morgan Partners and now CEO of J.H. Whitney Investment Management
in Manhattan. He has always closely allied himself with the Health Commissioner. He had been the AC&C’s treasurer for
four years. A blood sport hunter and ACC's most hostile board member to animal welfare issues. He has twice stated at
Board meetings that the AC&C directors have no control over the AC&C’s budget. Really? Even though the
Commissioner of the DOH (which sets the AC&C’s budget) is Chairman of the AC&C Board! Through the years, Mr. O’
Connor has never employed his touted financial expertise to raise monies for the AC&C. Apparently, his overriding
concern is to ensure that nothing at the AC&C embarrasses his “friend,” Mayor Bloomberg.
BRUCE DONIGER
AC&C Treasurer
E-Mail: bbdoniger@yahoo.com
Appointed in Oct 2004. President and CEO of The J.E. & Z.B Butler Foundation, a nonprofit that
benefits at-risk youth and individuals with special needs. He is a decent man who is very involved in helping people.
However, he has no burning interest in animal affairs, nor expertise in running a shelter. Yet, he ran the AC&C for 7
months as “interim” Executive Director in 2007.
PATRICK NOLAN
VP Marketing, Penguin Group Publishing
Patrick.Nolan@us.penguingroup.com
Appointed in March 2007 to fill a nine-month vacancy and now apparently a permanent member
of the Board. He remains an unknown entity. Although described by a fellow director as an animal lover and a master of
advertising, Mr. Nolan has done nothing to advance the AC&C’s cause or help its animals.
Samples of correspondence between Shelter Reform and AC&C Directors:
----- Original Message -----
From: SRAC
To: Adrian Benepe
Cc: Bruce Doniger ; Dr. Jay Kuhlman ; Dr. Thomas Farley ; Edgar Butts ; John M. B. O'Connor ; Lt. Thomas J. Swanson ;
Norma Torres ; Patrick Nolan
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 6:39 PM
Subject: Please Acknowledge Your Conflict of Interest, and Resign from the AC&C Board
May 20, 2010
Commissioner Adrian Benepe
Dear Commissioner Benepe,
Thank you for the courtesy of your reply to Shelter Reform Action Committee’s e-mail (posted at the bottom of this e-
mail, entitled “Honor Your Fiduciary Duty to Animal Care & Control and its Animals).” As we previously stated, our
position is that every AC&C Director faces an irreconcilable conflict of interest and should resign.
Your response is printed immediately below with our comments in red.
Sincerely,
Shelter Reform Action Committee www.shelterreform.org
[The e-mail to Commissioner Benepe was sent through his office message link:http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.
html ]
Commissioner Benepe’s Reply to Shelter Reform With SRAC's Response in Red:
From: Benepe, Adrian <Adrian.Benepe@parks.nyc.gov>
Subject: Your Email to Parks
To: info@shelterreform.org
Date: Friday, April 30, 2010, 2:09 PM
Dear Ms. Koslow:
Thank you for your email regarding Animal Care and Control of New York City (AC&C).
I am honored by and take seriously my position as a Board Member of AC&C, and I am committed to working with AC&C
leadership and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH) to improve AC&C’s processes and
strengthen its programs.
You are not known as an animal advocate or a leader in animal rescue. You are guaranteed a seat on the AC&C board
solely by virtue of being the Commissioner of Parks & Recreation. You haven’t attended an AC&C Board meeting in
years. You do not visit the shelters. What AC&C “leadership” do you work with, because it keeps changing? The Board
has gone through eight (8) AC&C Executive Directors in as many years.
AC&C and DOH are committed to the health and safety of New York’s animals.
The DOH has no mandate to care for animals, and hence no commitment to them. For 15 years the AC&C Board has
never challenged or criticized the DOH’s failure to provide proper funding, buildings, and leadership for the AC&C. The
Board votes in lockstep with the DOH.
Since 2000, AC&C has reduced euthanasia by more than 50 percent and has increased the number of animals adopted
by more than 65 percent. Rescue groups play a key role through the New Hope program, providing needed care and
placement of thousands of animals in good homes. AC&C will continue efforts to increase the number of animals that
are adopted and reduce the number that are euthanized.
Rescue groups – not the AC&C Board or the DOH – are indeed responsible for increased “adoptions” (meaning --
animals pulled by rescuers). They do so (in large part) with the aid of grant monies funneled through the Mayor’s
Alliance. Despite its name, the Mayor’s Alliance receives not one penny from the Mayor, the City, or the DOH. When
the Alliance’s grant monies end next year, what will happen to the rescuers who already struggle to pay vet bills and find
adopters for the animals they pull?
Please don’t forget: despite the rescuers’ valiant efforts, at least one out of every three animals will be killed at the
AC&C. Those are daunting odds for any animal landing at the AC&C.
There has been ongoing progress in improving shelter coverage in the Bronx and Queens. Community involvement,
land use zoning reviews, and budgetary issues have led to additional challenges. The Board and AC&C are working
with the Department of Design and Construction and DOH to achieve our goal of improving Citywide shelter coverage.
The DOH and the Mayor have had 10 years to create the mandated shelters. It’s odd to insist there’s “ongoing
progress,” particularly as a New York Supreme court recently ruled that there has been none.
Commissioner Benepe, you do a fine job overseeing our City’s parks, but shouldn't have a seat on the AC&C board.
Please resign.
For more information on AC&C’s programs and initiatives, please visit their web site at www.nycacc.org.
Thank you for your commitment to New York City’s homeless animals.
Sincerely,
Adrian Benepe
SRAC's letter to the Directors of Animal Care and Control:
From: SRAC <info@shelterreform.org>
Subject: Honor Your Fiduciary Duty to Animal Care & Control and its Animals
To: "Dr. Jay Kuhlman" <sjkuhlman@aol.com>, "Dr. Thomas Farley" <tfarley@health.nyc.gov>, "Patrick Nolan" <Patrick.
Nolan@us.penguingroup.com>, "Lt. Thomas J. Swanson" <thomas.swanson@nypd.org>, "Bruce Doniger"
<bbdoniger@yahoo.com>, "John M. B. O'Connor" <joc@jocnewyork.com>
Date: Friday, February 19, 2010, 11:03 PM
Dear Directors of Animal Care and Control (AC&C):
The Mayor and/or the Department of Health (DOH) appointed you to serve on the AC&C Board.
No Director has ever objected to the DOH’s failure to obey the 2000 Shelters and Sterilization Law, requiring the DOH to
create full service shelters in the Bronx and in Queens (the "Animal Shelters Law"). Moreover, you sit quietly as the
DOH appeals from a September 2009 court ruling that it has violated that law. One of the DOH's defenses to that
lawsuit is that it has "substantially complied" with the Animal Shelters law. Do you agree that not having those shelters is
the equivalent of having them? How often (if ever) have each of you visited the AC&C shelters to see the overcrowding
for yourself?
None of you have objected as the DOH continues, year after year, to underfund the AC&C. When public attendees at
Board meetings challenge the inadequate funding, directors (such as Mr. O'Connor) respond that the AC&C Directors
have no power or influence over the AC&C's budget.
Really? The DOH sets the AC&C's budget. The head of the AC&C Board is the DOH Commissioner. Why haven't you
turned to your fellow AC&C Director, the DOH Commissioner, and complained?
Shelter Reform Action Committee (www.shelterreform.org) is a coalition of animal advocate organizations, rescuers,
AC&C volunteers, former AC&C employees and concerned citizens. Since the creation of the AC&C in 1995, Shelter
Reform has fought to expose and correct the dysfunction that plagues our City's animal shelter system.
For all of its 15-year history, the AC&C has suffered from insufficient funding and inadequate “shelters” (i.e., former
factories). Only once did AC&C directors publicly complain about conditions at the AC&C. The two directors who spoke
out were quickly sent packing. That is how the DOH and the Mayor --- through their supporters on the AC&C board --
dealt with AC&C Directors who dared exercise their fiduciary duty.
The DOH’s malfeasance doesn’t excuse you from performing your fiduciary duty to the AC&C.
You cannot serve two masters. By protecting the Mayor and rubber-stamping the DOH, you have breached your
fiduciary duty to the AC&C and its animals.
Shelter Reform requests that you either fulfill your obligation to the AC&C and its animals, or resign and let true
advocates for homeless companion animals take your place on the Board. Otherwise, your continued presence on the
Board is an embarrassment and, not incidentally, a violation of the law.
Sincerely,
Shelter Reform Action Committee (www.shelterreform.org)
Jennifer Panton and Esther Koslow, Co-chairs
Lynn Grossman, Secretary
Abbe Chant, Treasurer
Dr. Farley's answer to the SRAC letter:
| Shelter Reform Action Committee (SRAC) ShelterReform.org: Everything you ever wanted to know about the AC&C, but were afraid to ask. |