By Josthyn Ramos
If you are a newcomer to New York City, you will frequently find yourself in the presence of cats in various corner stores, or as the locals refer to them, “bodegas.” But why is this the case? As is widely known, the city has had a long-standing issue with its rodent population, with rodents often ruining large amounts of merchandise and causing significant financial damage. The government has failed to provide a fully functioning solution to deal with the rat problem, but locals have found the answer in our century-old partners: cats. Although their presence is a health code violation punishable by a $200–$2,000 fine for repeated offenses—since any animal other than service animals is prohibited in food-serving businesses—cats have proven time and again to be the most effective solution to the rat problem.
On the corner of Nagle Ave and Academy Street Kuku lives at Supermarket Corp. Kuku is a tuxedo cat with an unusual pattern resembling the now-trending micro-bangs. He walked into the deli of his own accord, has worked there for over six years, and I’ve known him for around the same amount of time, though I only see him once or twice a year. He is usually on top of the freezers watching everyone who walks in or out.
Moving up Academy Street to Sherman Avenue, we find Shali Garu, a six-month-old striped domestic shorthair. Shali has lived in that bodega practically her whole life; her owner adopted her and brought her with him to work. She’s extremely elusive and usually only seen through the glass, often under her owner’s chair.
Next, I visited Sophia on the corner of Dyckman Street and Sherman Ave. She works with her four brothers to keep the rodents at bay. Since they usually work in the basement and storage areas, they are rarely seen but always well-loved. Her owners say her eldest brother is twice her size, which is hard to believe considering Sophia’s size.
Around 163rd and Amsterdam Ave lives Raul. In the neighborhood, absolutely nobody but his owner calls him by his actual name—everyone calls him Garfield for his massive size, color, and attitude. Seriously, this guy almost said “lasagna.”
On the corner of Quisqueya and Payson Avenue, I met Jasmine and her sweet owner. After bonding over our backgrounds, she allowed me to look through the bodega, even the storage section. I failed to find Jasmine, as she was likely busy doing her job, but I didn’t give up and found her the next day.
Also on Amsterdam Avenue on the corner of 160th Street, lives Xochitl. She was named after the Nahuatl word for flower. She hasn’t been working at that bodega for very long—her owners told me she’d only been there for about five-six months, a short time considering others like Kuku and Sophia.
Just on Lexington Avenue and 111th lives Soup. Soup is the most nonchalant bodega cat in this city. He does not care about anything. Usually, he sits right in the middle of the bodega and stares every customer down. I sometimes doubt he actually works and would rather just sit posing.
As I walked down Dyckman, I noticed store owners were often hesitant to share their cats’ stories. Maybe it was the camera I was carrying along with my fancy notebook, but it wasn’t until I dropped the English and started speaking in my very Dominican manner that they began to open up. In Quisqueya Place, nestled between restaurants, I entered the Copped Cheese Deli. There, the owner told me they had to give up their beloved Egyptian cat, Merium, after only four months, as the health inspector flagged them and they couldn’t afford the fine. Then I realized why some cats are so hard to find from time to time. That’s part of their jobs.
Extremely close to Lehman College, in “El Rancho Deli Grocery” on Kingsbridge Road, I met this guy. He had just freshly arrived at the deli, so the owners still hadn’t picked a name that stuck. They found it particularly funny that he always spends his time near the conchas, Mexican sweet breads, calling him the concha protector.
All these cats were hard to spot, as they spent most of their time outside the customer area of the store, busy with their tasks. They are active throughout the day but are usually only visible at night or early in the morning. I noticed a particularly strong connection between cats and Islamic store owners, who absolutely love their cats, as cats are viewed as blessings in their religion.
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