What We Covered With Untapped New York

On June 25, 2026, I joined Untapped New York for a virtual talk about the bodega cats of New York and the book that grew out of the archive.

The talk began with the archive. BCNY grew through store visits, owner conversations, and photographs made inside working bodegas. It did not begin as a list of viral cats. The store, the people behind the counter, and the cat's daily routine all had to remain in the frame.

I shared an early look at the 240-page book and several owner stories. We talked about what it took to photograph 60 cats across all five boroughs: asking permission, securing releases, returning when a cat hid, and accepting that some visits would produce no usable photograph.

The policy question

The policy discussion covered Int. 0830-2026, the current City Council bill. The Council referred it to the Committee on Health on April 16, 2026. It has not become law.

The bill matters because store owners already live with the contradiction it addresses. Cats remain common in neighborhood stores, but city rules can still treat their presence as a violation. The proposal would limit city penalties and, if funded, create voluntary vaccination and spay-neuter programs. State food-store rules would still need separate action.

What the event recorded

Untapped New York framed the talk around the cats' place in corner-store culture, the work behind documenting them, and why neighborhoods care about them beyond the novelty of finding a cat in a shop. That is also the structure of the book: photographs, reported stories, and the legal question around the cats already living in these stores.

The [Untapped New York event page](https://www.untappedcities.com/bodega-cats-of-nyc/) remains online with the talk description and photographs by Gulce Kilkis.

Bodega Cats of New York publishes November 3, 2026 through Epic Ink, an imprint of Quarto.