The owner of Market Deli on the Upper East Side has been behind the same counter for 35 years, and at this point he has stopped asking why strangers keep showing up with professional camera equipment and crouching down on his floor. They are not shooting the shelves. A lot of them walk out without buying anything at all. By his own rough count, roughly 14,000 people a year come through the door for a reason that has nothing to do with groceries.

They come for Cookie.

Cookie is a six-year-old cat who turned up at the store near 74th and First Avenue as a kitten and simply stayed. She was, for a while, just a cat. Then the cameras started. She has been written up by national outlets, found by strangers through Instagram, and filmed by a crew that flew in from Japan for the specific purpose of pointing a lens at her. Her owner has never entirely understood the appeal, but he lets people shoot. And this fall Cookie is getting the most permanent version of the treatment yet.

Cookie has her own Instagram account with about 270 followers called @ cookiethebodegacat

Cookie is one of six cats from the neighborhood appearing in “Bodega Cats of New York,” a 240-page hardcover written by Dan Rimada with photographs by Gulce Kilkis.

Cookie's Instagram: @ cookiethebodegacat

Manager Leo taking his break.

Upper west side Joes Deli.

I saw it on ABC7

https://youtu.be/WqbHVsfHAAU?is=R6jU7wi4R7iQRDdt

Thanks

Meet Cookie! She is a bodega cat on 1338 E 74th Street on 1st Avenue. I run her Instagram account with over 260 followers @ cookiethebodegacat on Instagram. She loves greeting all of her customers daily. Cookie is a local celebrity and loved by everybody in the neighborhood. The owner of Market Deli (Cookie's store) says that over 14,000 people visit Cookie every year. Many news outlets came to Cookie's deli. She is featured in a upcoming bodega cats book coming out on November 13th called "Bodega Cats of New York" by Dan Rimada.

74th/5th. Lulu is the white one

Cookie is a bodega cat on East 74th street and 1st avenue in New York City. I run her Instagram @cookiethebodegacat .

I'm a student at Ghetto Film School (https://www.ghettofilm.org/about-us), making a short, cute documentary about NYC bodega cats across all 5 boroughs.

I need help with two main things:

• Locations: Who has the most iconic, friendly, or funny bodega cat in your neighborhood? (Please drop the cross-streets/name!)
• Interviews: Do you think the owners would be down for a quick on-camera chat about their cat, or should I just stick to b-roll?

Thanks so much!

Guardian of the snacks holding it down.

I met this fine Tuxedo feline at Napa Auto Parts earlier tonight. S/he seemed equally curious to me and approached me for some loving strokes before walking off into the employee only area in back. It's been working there for 7 years and the humans have never seen a mouse 🐁

5th, 21st/22nd

Hey everyone! I’m Dan, the author of Bodega Cats of New York and the person behind the Instagram account (@newyorkbodegacats). I wanted to invite the Redditors here to a talk and Q&A I’m doing at the Banksy Museum on Thursday, October 15.

I’ll share photographs from the book and stories from documenting the cats, followed by a short Q&A and reception. Dave Herman from the City Reliquary will introduce me and join the Q&A.

It’s 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 277 Canal Street, Floor 2. Tickets are $20 and include whiskey samples from Bodega Cat Whiskey, nonalcoholic beverages from AriZona, and food from Plantega.

The book comes out November 24, with photographs by Gulce Kilkis and stories of 60 cats across all five boroughs. I’d love to see you there!

Event details and tickets here

not a singular thought behind those eyes

How does any work get done around here when the workers are slacking off??

Spotted at a bodega on Christopher St in NYC. Apparently there is a fourth kitten on site - maybe that's the one doing the actual work!

Met this Orange Kingdom Floof in Chinatown, SF.

excuse my silly voice. i’m a little intoxicated and very excited in this video and as i make this post.

p.s - my hand smelled like cheese because we just left taco bell

Jabal, as seen in the Park Slope subreddit.

Broadway, Thorton/Flushing

Just watching to make sure I didn't enter the Staff Only area.