Shop Cats of New York by Tamar Arslanian
My rating: 5/5 cats
maggie is unimpressed, but i enjoyed it.
look, another book about CATS! about grizzled blue-collar cats, salt of the earth and backbone of the working class, like matilda the ragdoll shown working hard at her post at the algonquin hotel:
i love going into stores that have their own house cats. shocking, i know, but true. and i love that someone has finally taken the initiative to document some of these shop cats, particularly since i know most of these places, and can visit these little cuties whenever i want! during business hours, of course. but i do NOT love that, of the 36 cats featured, there are 24 from manhattan, 11 from brooklyn and only ONE from queens! staten island and the bronx are boroughs used to being overlooked, but queens? we have many cute cats who live in stores! don’t neglect our pussies!
here’s the queens cat – max at pets on the run, a pet supply store in astoria:
howdy, neighbor!
that complaint aside, i have no others about this book. the photographs are excellent, and each cat (or cats, in cases where stores have multiple feline representatives) gets a little write-up about their personalities, origins, or responsibilities while on the job.
there are shoe store cats, pharmacy cats, flower shop cats, and some cats who are really living the dream, like jeffie the whiskey distillery cat, shown here clearly licking some fine whiskey outta his whiskers:
i would say go home cat, you’re drunk, but you’re already there
another drunkard is jack daniels bagley, punching his timecard over at wine haven.
and ric and rac, who live in a freaking ribbon store, which is the best job ever for a cat:
they are having way more fun than valentino the real estate cat, who has nothing to play with but this chair, although he’s making the most of it:
three of the featured kitties are bookstore cats, and lemme just say – if you open a bookstore, you really must have a cat or two.
tiny at community bookstore
hampton at corner bookstore
and harriett at shakespeare & co
there’s also this little cutie named molly:
who i ran into while on an adventure not too long ago, but i didn’t want to bother her with picture-snapping since all new yorkers know you wanna give celebrities a little breathing room. plus, this little girl’s been through a lot in her life without me documenting her private time:
http://www.myersofkeswick.com/molly/
other adorable mentions are keetah, who presides over the vinyl at bleecker street records, and is probably an awesome dj after hours
and who totally looks like he belongs in the band from the aristocats:
also bud; a sweet little girl-cat who sheds it up at chenille cleaners, being so adorable that a customer offered her ‘owner’ $2,500, because that’s a totally reasonable sum to pay for a cat, but no sale.
she reputedly has “the softest fur,” but i know my maggie’ll win that prize every time.
this little guy is my favorite – 10-year-old sammy, who works security, employee-soothing, and keyboard-stomping in the tiny offices of mph, which provides messenger and courier services.
i love his crazy-ass whiskers and little red beard-area.
lionel maintains the bubble wrap at the red caboose hobby shop, which is a very important job, indeed
and the there’s chloe
who is SEVENTEEN and looks damn good for her age, despite being yowly and deaf and living on a desk. if i ever end up in an office job again, this is how i shall decorate:
and i will have my own personal assistant to help me type. perhaps i will even learn how to use capital letters under a kitty’s scrutiny.
i also love spooky, who lives in a bike shop in park slope, although i fear for his tail. beware, little one!
i’m also in love with kitty, even though living in a pilates studio has given her many white hairs
look at those eyes
although – again – i gotta go with maggie FTW
one more for the road! this is charlie, who lives at smoke scene, which is a smoke and vape shop:
make no mistake, charlie totally judges you when you vape.
so there you go – shop cats! being cute so you’ll buy more stuff. like this book.
