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Photos: Your First Look Inside Brooklyn's New Cat Cafe
By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 19, 2015
Modified Sep 20, 2015
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Scott Heins
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By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 19, 2015
Modified Sep 20, 2015
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Dozens of animal lovers stopped by The Cat's Meow during its first few hours of business Saturday. The first full-on Cat Cafe to open up in Brooklyn will be open to the public for the next five weeks, welcoming animal lovers and prospective adopters with the promise of cats, kittens, pussycats, and more felines.
Roughly a dozen animals were on display Friday, all of them up for adoption except for Newt, a mature white cat who's been christened the cafe's official mascot by the staff. Finding forever homes for felines who might otherwise be euthanized is the cafe's primary goal, while selling a small assortment of (human) snacks and sodas is primarily an afterthought—sorry, but there are no cat'achinos at this new Brooklyn spot. Customers are encouraged to bring in food and coffee from either Red Lantern Bicycles or The Brooklyn Sweet Spot, but the cafe's primary deal—$5 for 30 minutes of cat time—is the main attraction.
Managers at The Cat's Meow hope to make the most of its five week run by hosting community outreach classes on cat training, adoption options, and (perhaps most importantly) lessons on how to improve the lives of the million-plus stray and feral cats that roam New York City. Partnering with Brooklyn Bridge, The Cat's Meow will roll out clinics on how to capture and bring in feral cats so that they can be vaccinated for rabies, spayed or neutered, and re-released, saving them from a life of disease, or euthanasia.
The cafe's animal population is sure to be a joy for any animal lover, and there are plenty of toys and treats on-hand that will help you lure them over for a nice long loving scratch. Bonds between owners and adoptees were already being made on Saturday—Marie Williams and Ian Chant became happy new owners this afternoon, taking home two rescue cats, who they immediately named Patti and Bowie. "All the pets I've ever owned growing up were rescues, and I think it's a really important thing to do," Williams said.
354 Myrtle Avenue, website. The Cat’s Meow is open from Saturday, September 19th to Saturday, October 24th. Public hours are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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