“Whenever Happy comes to me for a cuddle I whisper my thanks to him for all he has done for Maya.”

Thus began Naomi Shrenzel’s story about her son Maya and their kitten Happy, a story of how the kitten and the boy changed each other’s lives, a story that won $50,000 for the Brooklyn Cat Cafe, a grant that will help the Cafe continue to change the lives of humans and animals in our community.

Maya began suffering from panic attacks when he was in fourth grade, attacks that got so bad that Maya stopped eating and drinking; his health deteriorated to the point that he was at risk of hospitalization.

“When Maya was distracted, he was much calmer,” wrote Shrenzel, “so we decided to try feline friends.”

“We visited the Brooklyn Cat Cafe and saw a group of five kitten brothers. We fell in love and brought our foster boys home. They were tiny, fitting into one carrier. Four brothers quickly ran out to explore. The lone kitten left was Happy, the smallest and weakest of the bunch. Maya’s heart melted as he joined Happy on the floor to coax him out of the carrier. In that moment, our child, who needed such patient, gentle caretaking, began his own journey as a caretaker.”

Both Happy and Maya thrived, the mutually beneficial relationship helping them both grow stronger and more confident. Now in 10th grade, Maya recently experienced a night-time panic attack, but gone were the fearful, desperate reactions from the past.

“’I remembered to do my breathing and I went and got Happy, he stayed with me,’ Maya said with pride.”

You can read Maya’s full story here, and the story of the Cafe’s 2023 win here.

Each year, Petco Love in partnership with BOBS® from Skechers® sponsors a campaign that calls for pet adopters to share how their adopted pets have changed their lives for the better. This is Brooklyn Cat Cafe’s fourth consecutive win, and the Cafe is one of 25 nationwide winners from thousands of entries.

“What makes our rescue work rewarding is that cats like Happy find homes where they not only thrive, but also make a positive difference in the lives of the people who love them,” said Anne Levin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition and Brooklyn Cat Cafe. “There are far too many sick kittens like Happy still on the streets of New York City. This lifesaving investment from Petco Love will help us to save many more lives and provide needed services to other rescue groups trying to do the same.”

Since its founding in 2007, the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, the nonprofit that runs Brooklyn Cat Cafe, has rescued nearly 10,000 cats, creating nearly that many happy endings for New York City’s at-risk cat population. In addition to the cafe and adoption program, BBAWC also offers We offer low-cost spay/neuter services for owned pets as well as surgical and medical services to rescuers working with homeless cats.

Follow the Cafe and its adorable feline inhabitants on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

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Sitting in my classroom this morning waiting for students to arrive, I got an alert on my phone:

“Due to FDNY activity, expect traffic delays, road closures and a heavy presence of emergency personnel in the area of Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street in Brooklyn. Consider alternate routes and allow for additional travel time.”

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It might be the dog days of summer, but this August, Cat Cafe is the place to be.

The first full moon of the month–one of two supermoons!–happens on August 1, so head over to the Cafe on Tuesday from 7-9pm for an evening of tarot, yoga, and reiki that will benefit the new Single Cat Room, enabling the Cafe to help more vulnerable cats.

The event is 21+, $50 if you buy tickets in advance, $60 at the door.

Kitten parties! Feeling a dearth of baby felines in your life? Attend or host a kitten party at the Cafe. For $50, you get an hour of playtime with the Cafe’s littlest residents to play, cuddle, and photograph the babies, while also helping them get used to being around humans. Tickets and more info here.

Merch! Monday, July 31 is the last day to purchase Anti Social Cat Person shirts and hats, available in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles. Check them out here.

The Cat Cafe is located at 76 Montague Street; follow the felines on Facebook and Instagram.

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Already home to dozens of cats, the Brooklyn Cat Cafe will soon be able to accommodate even more homeless felines, thanks to a $165,000 grant from the New York State Companion Animal Capital Projects Fund.

The Cafe will use the money to develop the second floor of its home at 76 Montague Street, enabling it to expand its operations and work with specialized felines populations. The expansion will include a nursery for mama cats and kittens; a room dedicated to cats who have been infected with the contagious feline leukemia virus; and a space for single, adult cats.

The room for FeLV-positive cats will be the first such feline accommodation in New York City.

The Cafe is also going to build a outdoor public catio, also the first of its kind in the city.

The additional space will enable cats that can’t be housed in the Cafe’s main space to interact with people and have freedom of movement.

The Cafe’s parent organization is the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, and in 2020, BBAWC opened a discounted rescue veterinary clinic for cats at the Cafe. In 2021, BBAWC opened a deeply discounted spay/neuter and surgery clinic for cat rescuers and low-income cat owners. Part of the grant money will fund additional space and medical equipment for these services.

The Cafe expects the grant to cover half the cost of its expansion plans, and in order to secure the funds, BBAWC will need to raise the other $165,000 by the end of August of this year. A new event space connected to the catio will be available to rent for private events, helping generate revenue for rescue operations. The Cafe also accepts donations.

 Since 2006, when BBAWC was established, it has rescued more than 7,000 cats and more than 100 other animals. More than 6,000 animals have been placed in permanent homes and over 1,000 cats have been TNRed (trapped-neutered-returned).

“We are very grateful to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets for this critical funding. The new space will provide shelter cats that cannot be housed in Brooklyn Cat Cafe’s main space with better enrichment and more opportunities to socialize with people, leading to quicker adoptions and increasing our ability to rescue other cats waiting for intake,” said Anne Levin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition and Brooklyn Cat Cafe. “In addition, the new medical equipment and veterinary space will allow us to treat rescued cats more quickly and make them available for adoption sooner.”

“Our current space doesn’t allow the public to meet leukemia positive cats or many single adult cats,” said Julia Rosenfeld, Managing Director of Rescue. “People will be able to play with these cats on a sunny outdoor catio, or in a spacious new event space, and hopefully take home a feline friend they might not have considered before.”

Visit catcafebk.com or follow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Cat Cafe.

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As I walked west on Schermerhorn around 6:30pm tonight, I passed a scene nearly identical to the photo in this Brooklyn Paper story and barely gave it a second thought.

If I’d known what was going on, I’d have paid more attention.

Aiden Graham reports that a man being transported to Central Booking on Schermerhorn between Smith St. and Boerum Place escaped from arresting officers and took off on foot.

No word yet about the reason the man was arrested.

From BP: 

According to the crime-reporting app Citizen, the suspect is described as around 6 feet tall, with a ponytail and a neck tattoo reading “E4M.” He was last seen wearing a dark coat, along with colorful coat and black Yeezy sneakers.

Anyone who provides police with information leading to an arrest can expect up to a $2,500 reward through the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers program. The public can phone their tips to (800) 577-8477, log into the Crime Stoppers website, tweet @NYPDTips, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Read the full story and support local journalism by reading the story at Brooklyn Paper.

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…and we all scream because Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is coming to the neighborhood, per Brooklyn Bridge Parents.

Van Leeuwen already has three shops nearby, in Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope, but now scoops will be just a short walk away, at the old Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory/Ample Hills spot on the Fulton Ferry Landing.

Offering both dairy and vegan ice cream, Van Leeuwen began operating out of a yellow truck in New York City in 2008. Their mission: “To make good ice cream that makes you feel good. Because a life without anything good is bad.”

Facts, as the kids say. I can enthusiastically vouch that Cookies and Cream Caramel Swirl and Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb (both vegan) made me feel good. And Hazelnut Fudge Cookie made me feel fantastic.

Enjoy…

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Money can’t buy you love, but love can get you money– $50,000 to be exact.

Andrew grew up afraid of animals, so the Brooklyn Cat Cafe was not exactly a dream date location for him. But when his girlfriend Colleen suggested that they visit, he reluctantly went along.

A petite dilute Tortoiseshell with a badly injured eye, Capricornia was rescued from the Bronx and took up residence at the Cafe on Montague St. And perhaps with the unerring instinct of a feline who can spot a cat-wary human, she jumped right into Andrew’s lap.

Skinny, scraggly, and sick, she had required no small amount of care, vet visits, and medication to regain her health. She commanded–and demanded–attention with her raspy, loud meow.

“In that half hour visit, something inside me changed forever,” recalled Andrew in a post on Petco Love’s Facebook page.

The man who had decreed to his girlfriend Colleen that their home must be pet-free now scoops litter and heats up Capricornia’s food for her, delighted to have added another family member. Then he made another big decision.

“I never expected it would be a cat who would make me look up and see it was time to make our new family permanent, but there I was with a diamond ring waiting to ask Colleen if she would give me and Capricornia our forever home.”

That story earned $50,000 for the Cafe from Petco Love as part of the foundation’s Petco Love Stories, an annual campaign that asks pet adopters to share how their new companions have changed their lives. Only 18 awards are given annually.

“Our Petco Love Stories campaign is in its tenth year, and there is no end to the amazing, emotional stories of how pets change our lives,” said Petco Love President, Susanne Kogut. “These winning Love Stories capture the love we all feel for our pets. They celebrate the lifesaving act of pet adoption and the unconditional bond we share with our pets who enrich our lives in so many ways.”

Capricornia was one of over 1,200 cats rescued in 2022 by Brooklyn Cat Cafe, which since opening in 2016 has welcomed more 100,000 visitors. In 2021, the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, the organization that runs the Cafe, took in more cats than any organization in the city except Animal Care Centers, the city’s municipal shelter. The Cafe operates one of the largest in-home foster programs for cats in New York City, and in 2020, BBAWC launched a discounted veterinary clinic for cat rescuers at Brooklyn Cat Cafe, following in 2021 by the opening of a deeply discounted spay/neuter and surgery clinic for cat rescuers and low-income cat owners.

“We are so happy that after such a hard journey, Capricornia has helped create a loving family of her own,” said Julia Rosenfeld, Managing Director of Rescue at Brooklyn Cat Cafe. “There are too many cats like Capricornia on the streets of New York City and this grant from Petco Love will help us to save many more lives and provide needed services to other rescues trying to do the same.”

For more great stories and photos, visit catcafebk.com or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Or better yet– head over to 76 Montague St. and find a Capricornia of your very own.

Photos provided by Brooklyn Cat Café and used with permission

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On the evening of Friday, Jan. 20, the entrance to the center elevator at the Clark St. station was barricaded by a yellow folding gate, and a nearby sign informed riders that the elevator would be out of service for the next several days.

If you’re feeling a little déjà vû all over again…you’re not alone.

Less than a year after having reopened following six months of repair, the elevators at the station continue to malfunction, often stranding straphangers who need to be rescued by firefighters.

The veteran transit report José Martinez published a story at The City NYC on Jan. 19 in which he reported that on Wednesday, Jan. 18, the elevator trapped 21 people and one Shih Tzu for half an hour.

According to the story, those entrapped tried unsuccessfully to report their plight via the call buttons in the elevator, with no success. Fortunately, some cell service remained available so that they could call 911. They were eventually freed after climbing a ladder out of the top of the cab.

Since re-opening last May, the MTA has reported “35 non-scheduled service outages and 11 “entrapments” through the end of 2022.

Ride at your own risk…

Support local journalism and read the full, original story at The City–it’s worth your time.

Photo credit: Teresa Genaro

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Local literary luminary Hernan Diaz was on hand earlier this week to re-open the neighborhood’s big box bookstore Barnes & Noble, recently relocated from Court St. to Atlantic Avenue.

As reported by Mary Frost at the Brooklyn Eagle, also present were Kelly Carroll, executive director of the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District and store manager Yinam Chung, who said that the store is planning a number of community events, such as story times for both younger and older children and poetry gatherings.

Diaz echoed Yinam’s community sentiments, saying that his daughter Elsa, who helped him cut the grand opening ribbon, “virtually grew up” at the Court St. store, which lost its lease after being the location for 20 years.

Diaz’s novel Trust won the $50,000 Kirkus Prize for fiction. Published last year, the book made Barack Obama’s list of his 13 favorite books of 2022.

Sporting a re-designed logo/sign, the new shop is smaller than the old one and will be staffed with many of the same people who worked at Court St.

Support local journalism and read the full story at the Eagle.

Photo: Diaz last year at Politics & Prose. Photo credit Frypie, used with permission from Wikimedia Commons.

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What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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You’ve got until 2pm today to help our beloved Cat Cafe win an additional $25,000 from Petco Love.

Vote here in the People’s Choice Competition; the top five stories with the most votes will earn additional grant funding from $5,000 to $25,000.

On Tuesday, the Cafe was surprised with a $35,000 check from the organization, the result of a winning submission by Brooklyn’s Debbie Zhang in the Petco Love Stories campaign and the number of Cat Cafe adopters who submitted stories–more than adopters from any rescue group in the northeast region.

Zhang is an essential worker who took a new job in a hospital just as New York City was shutting down in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. The workload and the necessary isolation to protect her family and friends took a toll on her mental health, and that’s when she decided to adopt Hotaru from Brooklyn Cat Cafe. Debbie says that caring for Hotaru taught her to also care for herself and to love life again:

“The moment I arrive, Hotaru scampers to the door to greet me and rub herself against my legs. She’s happy that I am home—and that it’s feeding time. It did take her a while to open herself up to me, but it’s amazing to have a companion to watch TV with and to give her little head nuzzles (even if it annoys her).

“She really helped pull me through a dark time during the COVID pandemic—so much so, I adopted another cat through Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition as well!” (from Zhang’s winning story)

“Debbie’s story shows how adopted pets change our lives for the better and we are so thankful she shared her story in the annual Petco Love Stories campaign to help us receive a grant award. These funds will help us bring more pets in need together with loving families,” said Anne Levin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition (BBAWC), the organization that runs Brooklyn Cat Cafe. “Now you can help us save even more pet lives by voting for our story in the People’s Choice competition.”

Click here to vote in the People’s Choice Competition.

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Seth Meyers.

Paula Poundstone.

Téa Leoni.

Ophira Eisenberg.

Lance Reddick.

John Doman.

Reshma Shetty.

Laura Brown.

And…Newt.

This is the star-studded line-up hosting Thursday night’s Turning Five and Feline Fine, a streaming event that will celebrate the Café’s fifth anniversary with comedy, features about cat rescue, and cat videos, the holy grail of the internet.

The event will honor Drs. Yvonne Szacki and Pratikshya Patil for their generosity and work on behalf of Brooklyn’s animal rescue community.

The show starts at 7 pm on Thursday, June 3 and will be available on-demand after the event, which is expected to run for about 55 minutes. Tickets start at $25.

The evening is sponsored by Rachel Foster and Alain Kodsi, Heights Advisors, and Tracy and Howard Brickner.

Over the last five years, the Café has logged more than 75,000 visits from people enjoying some time with the cats, attending events and classes, and holding events. Those visitors have helped fund the rescue of more than 4,000 animals, adopting 2,600 to loving homes. In the first five months of 2021, the Café has rescued more than 650 animals and adopted out more than 400 pets.

The Brooklyn Cat Café  is open Friday – Sunday, 12 pm – 7 pm. Cost is $10 per person per half hour and advance reservations.

Find the Café and its feline residents on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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It’s time to pawty!

Five years ago, the Brooklyn Cat Café opened its doors on Atlantic Avenue. So successful that it quickly outgrew that space, the Café moved to 76 Montague Street two years later, significantly expanding its operations, and in 2019, more than 30,000 people from around the world visited the Café, with hundreds more attending private events and classes.

Walking into the Café brings a rush of sheer delight: the gamboling kittens in the terrarium (which you can watch on a live camera 24/7); the feline sentries who come to check out the new visitor; the blasé older cats who look at you skeptically, wondering whether you’ve brought treats.

When the pandemic hit last March, I signed up to be a Café driver and travelled to four of the five boroughs to pick up and deliver foster and adopted cats and kittens. I dropped off and picked up cats from several borough veterinary clinics, who support the Café by offering lower-cost vet and dental care and spay/neuter services. I watched people weep with joy as a new pet was delivered to them and with happy sadness as one of their fosters left to go a permanent home.

Closed for six months in 2019 as a result of the pandemic, the Café lost 85% of its revenue even as it continued its vital work to help New York City’s felines. A recipient of grants from the ASPCA, Petco Love, and GS Humane, the Café went into overdrive, finding foster and adoptive homes for hundreds of cats. As a result of the funding, the Café was able to launch a low-cost, pop-up veterinary clinic and will soon open a low-cost spay/neutr clinic.

Some eye-popping numbers:

• In 2020, over 1,100 cats went through the Café’s foster network.
• More than 1,000 cats were daopted in that time period (compared to 430 in 2019)
• There are currently 150 cats in the Café’s foster system, and 350 have been adopted so far this year.

Visitors to the Café this weekend will be entered to win a free one-hour private kitten party, a free one-hour visit for two at Brooklyn Cat Café, or a Turning Five and Feline Fine 5 Year Anniversary Benefit T-shirt. All visitors will receive cat-ear headbands and can purchase vintage Brooklyn Cat Café T-shirts for $5 while supplies last.

Tickets are also available for Turning Five and Feline Fine, a virtual five-year anniversary benefit featuring Seth Meyers, Téa Leoni, John Doman, Lance Reddick, Reshma Shetty, Ophira Eisenberg, Laura Brown and more guest stars to be announced soon. The event will stream at 7 pm on June 3rd. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at fiveyears.catcafebk.com.

Brooklyn Cat Café is open Friday – Sunday, 12 pm – 7 pm. Cost is $10 per person per half hour and advance reservations are required at catcafebk.com/reservations.

Find them on social media. Even better…find them on Montague Street, and celebrate and support this neighborhood gem.

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter

Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Cat Café

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Several weeks ago, Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, the non-profit behind the Cat Café, announced that it had received a $25,000 grant from the ASPCA as part of the ASPCA’s Relief and Recovery Initiative, which has provided $4 million in funding for animal welfare organizations that have been affected by the pandemic.

The Café certainly falls under that category: closed for months, it lost 85% of its income, while at the same time, the number of cats needing assistance double and the cost of their care nearly quadrupled because of the severe reduction in low-cost/free spay/neuter services as a result of COVID-19.

“ASPCA’s grant is helping us to bridge the gap during this crisis, allowing us to pay for spay/neuter surgeries, exams, tests, vaccines and often extensive veterinary care to meet the demands of increased intake and prepare cats for fostering and adoption,” said Anne Levin, executive director of the BBAWC. “We are honored and grateful to be selected for this COVID Relief grant from the ASPCA in a very competitive process for limited funds.”

Great news, right? Definitely…but $25,000 doesn’t go as far as it used to.

BBAWC expects to spend $10,000 this week alone on veterinary bills. Sixteen cats need echocardiograms. A few need dental surgery or eye surgery. Among some of the animals recently rescued that have required care:

Chickadee, a wee one found running around JFK Airport all by himself. Photo courtesy Cat Café

Taylor, whose owner recently passed away. Photo courtesy Cat Café

Marsupial, rescued from a garbage can. Photo courtesy Cat Café

In 2020, BBAWC helped nearly 1,300 cats and found homes for 1,021 (2019 numbers: 810 animals helped, 430 adopted).

The Café is now open for visitors on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon-7pm. Reservations are required and all visitors must wear masks.

So while $25,000 is nothing to sneeze at, the Café continues to seek donations to support its work with Brooklyn’s felines.

Unable to donate? Perhaps you’re interested in fostering? Or adopting?

If you have a car, you can also volunteer to drive Café cats to and from vet appointments, foster/adoptive homes, and the Café.

Follow the cats on Facebook, Instagram, and the 24-hour Café Kitten Cam.

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