A $65 million luxury pet terminal at JFK Airport is on the brink of closing after just one year - and its owner is furious
The facility opened on a limited basis in January 2017 and planned to expand its suite of services over the course of its first year. According to the lawsuit, the pet terminal cost $65 million to build.
"How could you enter into a legal, written document and ignore it?" Cuticelli said.
The lawsuit alleges that the Ark's lease gave it the exclusive right to perform certain services for animals arriving at or leaving from JFK Airport, including the legally-mandated, three-day quarantine horses must receive when they arrive from overseas.
Quarantine services for race and show horses were supposed to be the most lucrative part of the Ark's business, but Cuticelli said horses arriving at JFK are often taken to a competing facility instead.
"5,000 horses come into JFK a year, and I only received 40? I watch 90 horses a week go by my front door," Cuticelli said.
The competing facility, the New York Animal Import Center at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, NY, is about a two-hour drive from JFK.
The facility is run by the United States Department of Agriculture, which consulted and met with Ark representatives during the Ark's development and construction.
But the lawsuit says that the USDA filed a Freedom of Information Online Request with the Port Authority in January 2015 and received a copy of the Ark's lease, which was signed in December 2014. Eight months later, the UDSA signed a 20-year lease to continue operating its competing facility in Newburgh.
Cuticelli has tried to figure out what's happening behind the scenes, but he said the Port Authority doesn't respond to his questions.
He said he has called, emailed, and visited the Port Authority's offices multiple times, but has yet to receive an explanation as to why the agency hasn't encouraged animal owners to use his facility.
"The problem here is that you're fighting an enemy you can't see, and one with no urgency," he said.
The Port Authority's silence has put Cuticelli in an "awkward position."
The Ark isn't making enough money to stay open under normal circumstances, but there are a few reasons that would make it difficult to shut down.
First, the Ark would be violating its lease.
A section of the Ark's lease reviewed by Business Insider appears to require it to provide certain services — like medical care, boarding, and quarantine — for the duration of the lease. So Cuticelli's case against the Port Authority could weaken if the business closes and potentially violates the lease.
Cuticelli also doesn't want to put his employees out of a job.
While he said that at least one employee admitted to being embarrassed by the lack of animals the Ark cares for, another indicated that closing the business could result in financial instability that would be difficult for the employee's family to manage.
For now, Cuticelli will wait and hope for an intervention.
"Emotionally, we can't even be upset any longer, because we know that they're not going to do anything," he said. "But what about the fate of these employees? What happens to them?"
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