Which Dem Vying for NYC Mayor Didn't Ignore Advos' Qs?
We asked eight primary candidates about their NYC ACC reform plans. Save for one, silence was the response.
The Scoop New York is a newsletter covering the movement for a true no-kill New York State, from Buffalo to Brooklyn. NYC ACC KILLS, published by TSNY, enumerates and memorializes adoptable cats and dogs who were exterminated by Animal Care Centers of New York City.
In May, The Scoop New York sent questionnaires to candidates competing for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City. The campaigns had a week to respond.
We had four questions, developed in consultation with a small group of NYC companion animal advocates. As regular TSNY readers might imagine, most questions pertained to the independent contractor currently known as Animal Care Centers of New York City:
1. Lack of pet-friendly housing remains a leading reason for companion animal surrenders in NYC. Long-stalled proposed legislation exists to protect tenants with companion animals. What legislative or executive actions will you take to eliminate housing discrimination against pet owners across NYCHA, rent-stabilized, and market-rate rental housing?
2. NYC’s public animal shelters, operated by Animal Care Centers of New York City since the 1990s, are killing more healthy, adoptable animals — almost 14,000 dogs and cats in the last five years alone — even as intake numbers fall. Will you commit to supporting an independent audit of ACC’s operations and leadership — including the ACC board, whose current chair has served for more than a decade — to ensure accountability and transparency?
3. NYC ACC is operating under a 34-year city contract without competitive bidding or enforceable performance standards. Do you support an independent audit and comprehensive review of this contract to explore restructuring or opening it to competition based on clear animal care goals?
4. Since its creation, NYC ACC has operated under the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which has deprioritized companion animal welfare. Would you support legislation to amend the City Charter to create a well-funded, independent Department of Animal Welfare to provide proper oversight and accountability?
Of nine candidates, one — Michael Blake — intended to reply but did not due to a screw-up on the part of yours truly. In addition, TSNY was unable to get a questionnaire to Jessica Ramos. The remaining seven candidates did not respond, as indicated below the divider.
Adrienne Adams. Adams — no relation to Mayor Eric Adams — was elected to the New York City Council in 2017, after three terms as chair of Queens Community Board 12. Council members elected her as speaker in 2022, making her the third woman and first Black person to hold the position. Under Speaker Adams, the City Council has continued to allow NYC ACC to abuse companion animals and the New Yorkers who care about them. Adams did not respond to the TSNY questionnaire.
Michael Blake. A former state Assembly member native to the Bronx, Blake worked on the Obama campaigns of 2008 and 2012. He also served for a time in the Obama White House. As of late Blake might be best known as the candidate who called Andrew Cuomo “the greatest threat to public safety in New York City.” Blake’s camp indicated interest in returning a completed TSNY questionnaire but missed the deadline due to a mistake on our end. If TSNY receives Blake’s response before in-person voting starts, we will update this post and announce same on social media.
Andrew Cuomo. In 2015, advocates managed to shepherd a trap-neuter-return funding bill through both houses of the state legislature, only to see Governor Andrew Cuomo veto the whole thing. As devastating a setback as that was, in his decade as the state’s executive, Cuomo also established the Companion Animal Capital Fund, Albany’s only longstanding, renewable commitment to help fund New York shelters and rescues. Cuomo signed the country’s first state declawing ban into law; and required, for the first time, New York’s private animal shelters to register with the state. Cuomo did not respond to the TSNY questionnaire.
Brad Lander. Lander was elected as city comptroller in 2021, after he was termed out of his Park Slope-based City Council seat. Lander’s comptroller predecessor, Scott Stringer, audited NYC ACC in 2015 and again in 2020. The two comptrollers who served prior to Stringer — William Thompson and John Liu — audited ACC at least once apiece. When The Scoop New York last year asked if Lander planned to conduct an ACC audit of his own, his office emailed us one sentence on background and a link to ACC audits by previous comptrollers. Lander did not respond to the TSNY questionnaire.
Zohran Mamdani. Once considered an upstart mayoral candidate, Mamdani in recent weeks pulled to within ten points of frontrunner Andrew Cuomo. Early in his career as a public official — he has represented Astoria in the state Assembly since 2021 — Mamdani has done nothing to distinguish himself as a friend to New York’s homeless companion animals. Mamdani did not respond to the TSNY questionnaire.
Zellnor Myrie. Myrie was first elected to public office in 2018, when he defeated incumbent Jesse Hamilton to represent central Brooklyn neighborhoods in the state Senate. During his three terms in office, Myrie has done nothing to distinguish himself as a friend to New York’s homeless companion animals. Myrie did not respond to the TSNY questionnaire.
Jessica Ramos. Like Myrie, Ramos was first elected in 2018 as part of the wave of successful challenges to members of the Independent Democratic Conference, which shared power with Senate Republicans. (Ramos defeated IDC member Jose Peralta.) In the Senate, Ramos has done nothing to distinguish herself as a friend to New York’s homeless companion animals. TSNY was unable to get a questionnaire to Ramos.
Scott Stringer. Before his second attempt at Gracie Mansion residency, Stringer was a longtime state Assembly member, Manhattan borough president, and city comptroller. During two terms as comptroller, Stringer twice audited NYC ACC, exposing “deplorable conditions” at an agency he said was “not sufficiently focused on animal welfare.” Stringer did not respond to the TSNY questionnaire.
Whitney Tilson. Business guy Tilson has never held public office, and therefore has no record in politics to run on or away from. He did not respond to the TSNY candidate questionnaire.
The TSNY questionnaire will be sent to Republican and independent mayoral candidates ahead of November voting. The Scoop New York will have a post on the Rochester and Buffalo mayoral primaries later this week.