ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Every part of New York has bodegas, shops with everything from beer to batteries to lottery tickets. And in many of them, you'll find a cat to eliminate rodents and attract customers. Cat lover Jeff Lunden decided to explore their popularity.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Whenever I pass my local bodega and see Lola, their fluffy black-and-white cat, through the window, I go inside to say hello.
Hey, Lola. Pss, pss, pss (ph).
Sometimes, I take a picture of her and post it online. Like me, Dan Rimada started posting pictures of bodega cats on social media, but it exploded into a business.
DAN RIMADA: The intention was not to start a bodega cat Instagram. The intention was I was going to snap photos of bodega cats myself with just my iPhone. And then people started sending me photos of their bodega cats, and then it just kind of spiraled from there.
LUNDEN: In addition to his social media accounts, Rimada has an Etsy page selling apparel and stickers, he leads cat tours in the city and is working on a coffee-table book. We met at a bodega in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and went on kind of a bodega crawl, meeting cats across the neighborhood.
RIMADA: Hey, Prince. Hi, bud. How's it going?
LUNDEN: Prince was a beautiful gray kitten. A few steps away, in another store, we met a chunky tortie named Tiger. Store clerk Karim Chunara.
KARIM CHUNARA: So many customers like the Tiger. She's friendly for everybody.
LUNDEN: Well, maybe not the rodents.
RIMADA: Between 30- and 40% of bodegas in New York City probably have cats. They're not always in the front of the house. Sometimes, they're kept in the back. You know, they're working animals.
LUNDEN: And some are celebrities. Comedian Michelladonna has become something of a TikTok superstar talking with bodega owners, customers and kitties on "Shop Cats Show."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHELLADONNA: I heard there was a grumpy bodega cat in here. Let's go check it out. Where are you?
LUNDEN: One staple of each episode is where Michelladonna tries to determine if the bodega cat is a hunter or a gatherer, and pulls out a cat toy on a string.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHELLADONNA: Let's see if Simba is a hunter or a gatherer.
I love bodega cats. I've never had a pet, and my mom has always said no (laughter).
LUNDEN: As has the New York City Department of Health - Dan Rimada says bodega cats are actually illegal in New York.
RIMADA: Sometimes, the health inspectors will look the other way. Sometimes, they won't. But it's just one of those things where, like, as a bodega owner, you have to face a fine. I mean, you get a choice. Like, you get a fine for having a cat or get a bigger fine for having a rodent problem.
LUNDEN: So Rimada has set up a petition - and full disclosure, I've signed it - to designate bodega cats as working animals to help change the law. He's also raising money to help pay for their veterinary care. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in Brooklyn.
(SOUNDBITE OF JST4RJST4R'S "DELI 2.0") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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