Published Dec 20, 2025
Annie Brag / Hbgusa.com
When cat lovers travel to New York City, they can get their feline fix by dropping into numerous bodegas, boutiques and other businesses and visiting the beloved resident cats – like Hamlet at the Algonquin Hotel, Gracie at Quimby’s Bookstore, and Jack Daniels Bagley at Wine Heaven.
And with the new book Shop Cats of New York, 45 of these business-based cats are becoming even bigger celebrities that draw cat lovers to the shops that house and care for the little mascots.
The recent Running Press release Shop Cats of New York, by author Tamar Arslanian and photographer Andrew Marttila, is a revised and expanded update of the original book that came out in 2016. Since then, many of the shop cats – unfortunately, due to short feline lifespans – have passed away and successors have taken their place.
Annie Brag / Hbgusa.com
The cats are a big attraction and PR device for the businesses, whom many people visit to see the cats, Andrew says.
“If two stores were identical and one had a cat and one didn’t,” he asks, “guess which one I’d be shopping at?”
Tamar and Andrew wanted to update the book with stories about the new cats at businesses that lost a cat – like Hamlet, who succeeded the famous Matilda at the Algonquin – along with add new stories about new businesses with cats. They also redid a story about Georgie, an orange tabby and white cat who lives at Mooshoes, a vegan shoe store in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Georgie was a kitten in the first edition of Shop Cats of New York, and the author and photographer could chronicle the life she has since lived as an adult cat.
One of Andrew’s favorite cats is the first one featured: Ratty, a feisty but sweet calico cat who lives at Casey Rubber Stamps in Manhattan’s East Village. He also is quite fond of Daisy, a senior firehouse cat at the Fire Department of the City of New York’s Engine 15.
New York City, in all its eccentricities and uniqueness – not to mention its population of the famous, giant subway rats – is the purrfect culture for shop cats, author Tamar says.
“New York is quirky,” she says. “What’s great about the book is that it highlights a lot of small businesses that are shops that someone might not have known existed. … It’s a place with a lot of unique people.”
Annie Brag / Hbgusa.com
Many New York businesses decided to get shop cats to be mousers, but some of these cats failed miserably at rodent control, Tamar says. Now, the shop cats are mostly friendly, although they may not be in the main store area interacting with customers all the time. At breweries, cats spend a lot of time in the back area. Ralphie, the resident cat of The Compleat Sculptor in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, spends a lot of his time in the basement of the sculpting supply store.
“Often, the cats are not so apparent in the stores,” says Andrew, who is known as “The Cat Photographer.” “There are some who are friendly and come and greet you when you enter. Some hang out in a basement or on a shelf somewhere.”
Cats being cats, they mostly get to do as they please, according to their purrsonalities and preferences, Tamar says.
“I think what was great is that the shop owners are very in tune with their cats,” she says. “They don’t force them to do something they don’t want to do. The cats have space where they can have private time.”
All the shop cats live full-time at the businesses, since cats are not as portable as dogs and commuting between home and work every day in a carrier would be stressful. At first, this struck Andrew and Tamar as a bit sad, because they thought cats should live in a loving residence with a human and not left alone at the end of the day and overnight. But, these living quarters are purrfect for shop cats, who get plenty of human interaction and affection all day – which is not the case for cats who live with their humans and are left alone all day.
“Twelve hours is a long time for a cat to be alone, but our cats are alone far longer than that,” Tamar says.”They have plenty of interaction. How many hours a day do you spend in a house or apartment, paying attention to animals living in your home?”
Since not every cat is a lap cat, Tamar says, not every cat is going to be a great fit for a private home – but they may do fine as a shop cat if they are sociable and calm.
Annie Brag / Hbgusa.com
Andrew observed that all the shop cats seemed content to be there.
“We didn’t find any cats who didn’t to want to be tethered,” he says. “Shop owners are careful to see that the cats have a good life. … We chose cats that are well-cared-for.”
In 2024, Tamar and Andrew spent a week in New York City to do their research and photography for the book. They visited about a half dozen shop cats a day for about 30 minutes each and did what Tamar jokingly calls “guerrilla journalism,” since cats can be notoriously hard to direct and control.
“While he was photographing, I was sitting there, taking notes,” Tamar says. “Whatever we can get in that time, that’s what we’re getting.”
Andrew says getting cats to cooperate with photography can be difficult, but worth the end results.
“It is still very challenging to go into a new space, find a cat, befriend a cat, and take photos worthy of being in a book – all within 30 minutes of time,” he says. “The biggest issue is just ensuring their participation. I don’t pose cats; I just sort of follow them around and do my best to get a beautiful photo of them.”
For both New Yorkers and visitors, the cats have become a beloved part of daily life or a delightful part of the visit. People go out of their way to patronize shops that have cats, and build relationships with the animals.
“Some kids have to come by every day on the way home from school,” Tamar says. “It really creates a little sense of community, and the cats become part of the rhythm for that person’s life – something they do every day.”
