In the shadows of JFK and LGA Airport, where background checks and ethics policies are supposed to protect workers, a troubling question echoes louder by the day: How did a man with a history of disturbing behavior find himself managing employees at a woman-owned business, under the nose of the Port Authority’s own WBE program?
His name is Arnold Tamasar, and his track record reads like a walking HR disaster. Allegations of sexual harassment, employee bullying, drug use, and financial misconduct have followed him from job to job in the hospitality industry. Public records show he’s been named in lawsuits such as Rosenblatt v. Elder and Thiebault v. Chelsea 23rd St. Corp. and Arnold Tamasar. Back in 2011, he was accused of harassing guests at the iconic Chelsea Hotel. Even earlier, in 2009, one of his first acts as management was to evict a 75-year-old tenant—an action that drew outrage from the Chelsea community and set the tone for his abrasive, authoritarian style. Former colleagues say he pressured women to quit their jobs, slashed hours and salaries, installed cronies, and manipulated tax forms to increase their burden. He’s also been accused of skimming money from company operations. These aren’t new claims—they’re part of a long and well-documented pattern.
Which raises a new and urgent question: How did someone with this rap sheet get through a background check?
That’s where the story takes a darker turn. Cypress Kings DBA Aqueous Solutions, operating under the Port Authority’s Women Business Enterprise (WBE) designation, hired Tamasar as a manager. On paper, the company is majority woman-owned, with Katie Bliss listed as owner. But insiders say the company’s control has long been disputed due to a fiercely litigated divorce. Some allege her estranged husband was misled into signing away ownership into a marital trust to exploit the WBE designation.
Why was this man given a position of power inside a business certified to empower women?
Compare this with the media attention around the case of a female JFK security supervisor who sued for harassment and was promptly covered in headlines: https://ecbawm.com/news/former-security-supervisor-jfk-sues-sexual-harassment-discrimination/
Why isn’t the same scrutiny applied here?
Has the WBE program become a loophole for bad actors to rebrand and reenter under the guise of diversity?
The silence is deafening.
If you’ve worked with or under Arnold Tamasar and have experienced or witnessed similar behavior, now is the time to speak out. These patterns are too disturbing—and too consistent—to ignore.
This isn’t just a local HR issue. It’s a systemic failure. Let this be the moment the airport community stops protecting predators and starts protecting people.
The #MeToo movement didn’t end—it just moved to the tarmac.
