The project started almost by accident. "I never planned to write a book," Dan told Bored Panda. "This started in 2020 with Luna, a tuxedo cat at a bodega in Brooklyn. I kept stopping in to see her and eventually started posting photos of bodega cats on Instagram." Before long, people began sending in photos of the cats from their own neighborhoods.
By 2022, the creator was visiting bodegas specifically to meet the cats and hear their stories, so when Quarto reached out about a book, the work was already underway. "I'd talk with the owners and regulars while Gulce photographed the cats," he explained. "Some owners opened up immediately. Others took a few visits before they trusted us."
In total, the pair visited more than 250 bodegas and met roughly 150 cats, 60 of which made it into the book. "I wanted readers to get to know each cat, including its routines and how it ended up living in that store," Dan said. Many of those details came from conversations that ran longer than expected. "Ask an owner about their cat and you can end up in a long conversation. You hear how the cat came to live in the store and which customers stop in to see it."
For Dan, putting the stories on paper was a way to give them more room than social media allows. "I wanted to preserve those stories somewhere beyond Instagram," he shared. "A book gives you time to get to know a cat you might otherwise scroll past."
The project also has a more serious side. Despite their fame, bodega cats are still prohibited in retail food stores under current rules. The project's petition to change that has collected more than 14,400 signatures, and bills are now before both the New York City Council and the State Assembly, though neither has passed yet. The state bill would also set care standards for the cats, including veterinary care, vaccinations, and spay or neuter requirements.
