Cats of Kensington

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Bodega cats are a fantastic NYC phenomenon. Their relationship to store owners, as described by the NY Times, is a textbook example of mutualistic symbiosis. Kensington has a particularly high incidence of this.

This cat lives in Melo Grocery, across the street from the Ditmas entrance to the F. He’s very soft, and tolerates attention, though he could use a good brushing.

Local kitty

Pacita has this fabulous arrangement at La Guadalupana Mexicana.

Pacita

Peachy is a very rare dilute tortie, and friendly and soft, to boot. She resided at the West Indian grocery store on East 4th and Ditmas Ave until recently, and the store owner would be interested to know what happened to her.

Peachy

The New Millenium Deli, on East 5th and Ditmas Ave, houses Lora in exchange for her services.

Lora

Gizella, with her lovely heterochromic blue and green eyes, earns her keep at International Foods, on Cortelyou Road right off of Coney Island Ave.

Gizella

Tell me about your favorite bodega cats! Did we miss any?

    - Sarah

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    • Dan

      I also Like Kensington Cats

    • http://mothermayisleepwithlifetime.blogspot.com Jen

      Aw, thanks for this post from a Kensington/cat lover. There’s a very friendly cat in the Indian grocery store/bodega on Church Ave between MacDonald and Dahill. He/she will even let you pick him/her up!

      I’ve also noticed there is a mini cat colony that seems to live in the East 4th St Community garden.

    • Sarah

      Thanks, Jen – I’ll check out that bodega soon!

      What population would you estimate the mini cat colony to be? I’ve counted at least 10 – 12.

    • cat1

      Someone was poisoning the cats in the E 4 garden although it wasn’t well publicized and I heard the garden people don’t like the cats. (you would think the world functioned just for people who garden the way they want the spaces all to themselves.. but that’s another story.) I wonder if the # is reduced now. Hopefully it has stopped!

    • http://www.emmaassin.com emma

      how nice to see some of my bodega cat friends! gizella is a fave of mine, always glad to get a scratch (though i’ve been worried at how thin she’s getting these days…) – sad to hear that peachy has gone missing :( i hope she’s ok.

    • Jole

      No one is poisoning cats at the E. 4th Street community garden–not as far as I know. But the cats–there are many and often feral–dig up people’s plots and eat the vegetation. Newest trick was to put screens and orange peels on your plot to keep them away. The citrus smell repels them, I heard.

    • bkforman

      Seems unsanitary to me but even without the cats many of these places seem unsanitary

    • http://www.bodegacat.tumblr.com Jessica

      I have blog documenting all the Bodega Cats of Greenpoint Williamsburg! Check it out. Thanks for news on more bodega cats.

    • Stacy

      I am the President of the East 4th Street Community Garden, and I can assure you that we are most certainly NOT poisoning cats, and I take serious issue with whomever would say such a thing. Please get your facts straight before making such an utterly outrageous accusation.

      As a matter of fact, we have members who are very involved in protecting the cat population in the neighborhood. We use screens and orange peels to deter the cats from using the plots as a litter box, and it has been fairly successful.

      Two cats were found dead in the garden this past summer. Members attempted to get medical care for one, as it was still alive when it was found, but to no avail. The other had already passed away when it was discovered.

      These cats are not confined to the garden, and travel all over the neighborhood. We were told that they could have ingested antifreeze, or been poisoned by someone else in the neighborhood. It most definitely not by any of our members. A large number of people in the garden community have dogs and cats of their own, and were very upset by what had happened.

      If anyone has any further questions regarding the garden and our relationship with the feral cat population in the neighborhood, please feel free to contact me directly. I can be reached at stacydedring@gmail.com. I ask that people refrain from making what amount to stupid, uneducated and hurtful comments.

    • cat1

      Hi Stacy, thanks for writing. If you reread what I wrote (which perhaps someone conveyed to you incorrectly) I did NOT say that anyone from the garden was doing it, just that someone was poisoning the cats who lived there(I heard it was more than two). I’d also heard that the sentiment at the garden is dislike of the cats but I never thought – or stated – it was someone from the garden who was poisoning them. Thanks for letting us know that the cats are being protected. Perhaps there could be a plot set up just for them – I’ve heard people have success with that and squirrels. We do have to share this earth with other species, after all. … Joie, it WAS happening. I don’t know if it’s abated. That is why there is now a sign outside the garden stating that poisoning cats is subject to a $1000 fine. You can find out more from Sean Casey.

    • john

      My wife, son and I are members of the E. 4th St. Community Garden. We are total cat lovers and our two cats are rescued strays. I enjoy the cats in the garden and appreciate their antics and rodent control but I don’t let my mushy kitty love blind me to the fact that they sometimes kill songbirds, poop in beds where people grow food and that their lives can be hard and dangerous.
      While some members may grumble about the cat poop, I can never imagine any garden member harming cats. On the contrary, several members take an active interest in their health and well being, sometimes at their own expense. We use benign measures (citrus peels, screens, a cover on the kids’sandbox) to control waste and otherwise they have the run of the place as well as the adjacent yards. They are just another part of the neighborhood ecosystem.

    • juli

      Something must have happened to some cats on Ditmas Avenue. There was a cat in the bodega, which is between e4 and 5th (between the chinese restaurant and the awesome Turkish grocery store), and it disappeared. Also, there was a lovely cat in the phone store between e5 and ocean parkway on Ditmas and it also disappeared.

    • Sarah

      Lucy was the phone store cat! She sadly caused the owners some trouble, as she was very combative towards other animals, but she was adopted. The owners had been looking to adopt her out for quite some time – my husband and I wanted to take her, but we have a cat, and Lucy would have done best in a single cat household.

    • David in BH

      Great cat portraits! Very enjoyable piece. I hope reporters in other neighborhoods will follow your lead…

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