Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center
Lobbying client
Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center is the legal corporate name behind Kaufman Music Center, a nonprofit music school and concert venue on Manhattan's Upper West Side that traces its roots to the Hebrew Arts School, founded in 1952, and was renamed in 1991 after a gift from Elaine and Henry Kaufman. It operates Merkin Concert Hall, the Lucy Moses School, one of the city's largest community arts schools, and the Special Music School, a K-12 public school that teaches music as a core subject. It has filed 15 disclosures since 2024, registered citywide, paying Bolton-St. Johns $142,000 to lobby all 51 council members in support of the Kaufman Music Center's budget request, and it has been awarded about $13 million in NYC contracts since 2007, none currently active.
- Council members lobbied
- 51 (citywide)
- Filings (since 2024)
- 15
- Lobbying compensation (since 2024)
- $152,000
- Industry (per city contracts)
- Standardized Services
- City contracts
- none active as of 2026-08-22 · $13,018,176 awarded since 2007
- Paid to date
- $12,075,014
- Won without a fresh bid
- 93% of contract value · $12,093,176 · 17 contracts
- Discretionary funding (FY2009-FY2027)
- $27,000 · 8 awards
- Funding history
- Funded 3 years (FY2015–FY2017); not in FY2027
- Top officer pay (FY2023)
- $340,816 · Kate Sheeran, Executive Director
Represented by lobbyist firms
- Bolton-St. Johns, LLC Lobbyist firm
Holds contracts at
- Department of Cultural Affairs City agency
- Department of Education City agency
Funded by these agencies
- Department of Cultural Affairs City agency
- Department of Education City agency
What they lobbied on
subjects from their filings
- Budget - Direct lobbying on behalf of the Kaufman Music Center in support of budget
- Resolution - Miscellaneous Issues in NYC
City contracts
Registered city contracts, largest first by current contract value (not amount spent): running now, then registered to start later, then ended. Totals count every registered contract. Each line shows its Checkbook contract ID. The tag on each row is how it was awarded (“no-bid” = non-competitive).
- MUSIC SCHOOL Department of Education · CT104020149453231 · ended 2022 $7,385,126
- LEASE Department of Education · CT104020109050005 · ended 2013 $2,489,085
- Arts Education Services Department of Education · MA104020109076405 · ended 2014 $500,000
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · CT112620121418603 · ended 2012 $213,000
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · CT112620141410490 · ended 2014 $210,055
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · CT112620131414389 · ended 2013 $209,600
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · CT112620201418858 · ended 2020 $209,250
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · CT112620181419988 · ended 2018 $206,500
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · CT112620171413025 · ended 2017 $200,040
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · CT112620191424067 · ended 2019 $197,170
Largest payments, by purpose
The organization's largest individual city payments (roughly $25,000 and up), grouped by purpose, to show what recent money was for. This is NOT a total — smaller payments aren't listed; see “Paid to date” above for the complete amount paid against its contracts. Fiscal years 2020 and later.
- MUSIC SCHOOL Department of Education · FY2022 · 12 payments $762,825
- MUSIC SCHOOL Department of Education · FY2023 · 12 payments $762,825
- MUSIC SCHOOL Department of Education · FY2021 · 12 payments $747,156
- MUSIC SCHOOL Department of Education · FY2020 · 12 payments $735,965
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · FY2020 · 2 payments $198,834
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · FY2021 · 2 payments $190,050
- MUSIC SCHOOL Department of Education · FY2024 · 2 payments $127,137
- SUPPORT GRANTEES MISSION AND CULTURAL EVENTS Department of Cultural Affairs · FY2022 $39,050
Discretionary funding received
City Council discretionary (member-item) awards, largest first. Covers FY2009-FY2027.
- Lucy Moses School for Music and Dance DCLA · FY2015 $3,500
- Lucy Moses School for Music and Dance DCLA · FY2015 $3,500
- Lucy Moses School for Music and Dance DCLA · FY2015 $3,500
- Local DCLA · FY2017 $3,500
- Local DCLA · FY2017 $3,500
- Local DCLA · FY2017 $3,500
- Local DCLA · FY2016 $3,000
- Local DCLA · FY2016 $3,000
Officer & key-staff pay
Reportable compensation from this organization's IRS Form 990 (Part VII), latest available filing (FY2023). Includes pay from related organizations where reported; an annual figure, not a running total. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
- Kate Sheeran Executive Director $340,816
- Emily M Grant Chief Administrative Officer $198,454
- Jonathan Slawson Chief Dev Officer $196,154
- Igal Kesselman Director Lucy Moses School $186,180
- Dianna Mesion SR. Director. Marketing & Comm $143,334
- John Glover Director Artistic Planning $133,998
Officer pay over time
Total officer pay changed +69% from FY2020 to FY2023. Top-officer reportable compensation by year (org-paid only), with each year's share of total revenue. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer 990 filings.
- FY2020 Kate Sheeran · 10.17% of revenue $285,509
- FY2021 Kate Sheeran · 6.0% of revenue $362,346
- FY2022 Kate Sheeran · 15.88% of revenue $360,348
- FY2023 Kate Sheeran · 13.41% of revenue $340,816