A unique terminal near John F. Kennedy Airport designed to hold thousands of animals arriving from overseas has been sitting practically empty over the past year, according to the private developer who's now suing The Port Authority for $426 million.
Developer John Cuticelli spent $65 million building the 178,000-square feet animal hospital, equine screening area and planned doggie spa called The Ark, just yards from incoming flights at JFK. He was betting that the loading dock would be irresistible to animal shippers who for years have had to truck the wildlife upstate to a federally managed site in Newburgh.
Cuticelli said The Port Authority promised him exclusive rights to screen all international animals. But instead of screening an anticipated 6,000 horses, for example, The Ark saw just 40 over the past year. The horse stalls remain empty, and so do the dog crates. The exam tables are barely used.
"This is not what I went to vet school for," said veterinarian Austin Stein, one of 25 employees paid to do practically nothing at the facility.
Stein says his friends ask him what he could be doing if he's a vet, "and it's embarrassing to tell them the answers."
Cuticelli admits The Ark costs pet owners a few hundred dollars more than the Newburgh site, and that a planned luxury dog hotel and pool has stalled. But he's suing The Port Authority, claiming he's in imminent danger of shutting down, for willful breaches of the lease and alleging "turf wars between competing, jealous government agencies."
The feds who own the Newburgh facility tell News 4 that importers may choose what facility the animals go to, as long as it's an approved facility. And The Port Authority said The Ark has only a limited exclusivity provision.
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But Cuticelli questions, "Why did I go through this, $65 million? It is only the tip of the iceberg. the money is not the issue. What about the five years of my life that I'll never get back?
As everyone waits for legal clarity on the matter, the white board at The Ark where animal would get logged is as empty as the stalls.
