The City’s new deer management committee is set to meet for the second time this Thursday, September 25, 2025. The group was created in the wake of concerns of possible deer overpopulation causing environment and property damage (and possible public safety concerns).
READERS: Are you concerned about deer overpopulation or deer impacts on your property? Tell us.
The resident run group, under the guidance of Assistant to the Rye City Manager John Sullivan, has been tasked with advising the City Council on “deer management using data collected with City support and guidance from the New York State DEC” and helping to “create and carry out a recommended management strategy”.
The group’s first meeting back on August 26, 2025 was mostly introductory and administrative. Key points included the need for accurate deer population estimation, with estimates discussed ranging from 150 to 250 deer across the City of Rye. The committee discussed potential management strategies, including bow hunting, which is legal in Rye, and the use of trail cameras and drones for monitoring and best estimation of the deer population.
Concerns were raised about the impact of deer on local ecosystems and private property. The committee also emphasized the importance of community engagement and the need for a balanced approach to deer management, considering both ecological and public safety aspects.
The presentation that guided the first meeting is shown below, as well as short biographies of each committee member based on their introductory comments during the meeting.
READ: City of Rye Deer Management Committee August 26, 2025 Presentation – Agenda
City Liaison
John Sullivan
The assistant to the Rye City Manager. He is a hunter.
Members
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Ran the first meeting. COO at Gallagher Securities and holds an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) certification related to investing. He said he was best known for non catastrophic weather hedges including renewable energy and proxy revenue swaps for wind farms. He is a bow hunter / deer hunter in New York and Pennsylvania. He has bow hunted in Rye.
Shrujal “Shru” Baxi
Resident of Glen Oaks who sees deer on her property from the Marshlands Conservancy and the Rye Golf Course. She said the numbers of deer have increased in the 4-5 years she has been in the home.
Chris Cohan
Cohan is a landscape architect (Christopher Jay Cohan Landscape Architects) and has also worked for the Stamford, Connecticut Parks and Recreation and NYC Parks and Recreation. He spoke at the Rye City Council on September 18, 2024 on the environmental impact of deer overpopulation.
Watch Cohan’s comments:
Stephanie Gomez
She has been a Rye resident for 18 years and her husband was raised in Rye and is a Rye PD officer. Outside work she is a NY State DEC licensed wildlife rehabilitator. She helps run the local The Cottontail Cottage Wildlife Rehab out of Rye Brook.
Bryan Murtagh
He has lived in Rye 33-34 years and is retired from UBS. He is president of a homeowner association in South Carolina and has dealt with deer in that capacity (where there is an established deer culling program in the area). Focused and conscious on the political aspect and the importance of getting the cooperation of Westchester County and neighboring communities.
Elinore “Ellie” Neeves
Recent graduate from University of Wisconsin who studied environmental policy. She conducted lab work in Colorado with wolves and worked with non lethal deterrent methods.
Jasmine Zhu
She works in climate technologies and works with project developers to embed decarbonization life cycle analysis into getting better financing.
ALSO READ: LETTER: Homeowner Urges City to Modify Fence Code for Deer Management
