Did You Wait 8 Hours to Get Into the Cat Café Pop-Up on the Bowery?
This image has been archived or removed.
Photo: Lori Greenberg
This past weekend, New Yorkers had the opportunity to roll out of bed, pick up a cup of coffee and take home a feline in the process. Purina ONE opened The Cat Café, a four-day-only pop-up on the corner of Bowery and Kenmare Streets. The shop was stocked with coffee and cappuccino (topped off with cream cat faces) along with adoptable cats, courtesy of North Shore Animal League.
This image has been archived or removed.
Photo: Lori Greenberg
The cats were very, very popular (we’re pretty sure it was the cats, not the coffee). Lines were out the door, around the corner and trailed far down the Bowery. A staffer at the café told us that the most popular day was on Friday, when customers waited eight hours on line to adopt a pet. “We had to cut off the line very early that day,” said the source.
This image has been archived or removed.
Photo: Lori Greenberg
When we passed by the other day, the wait was about five hours, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind. Many of them were dressed in cat costumes or cat themed outfits, completely getting into the spirit of things. The mood outside was festive, with various folks starting conversations with others who were waiting on line, peeking through the windows to see the cats in the café, and taking photos of the scene.
This image has been archived or removed.
Photo: Lori Greenberg
Many people told this reporter that they were waiting to get in, simply to play with the cats in a cool setting (people were allowed to stay in the cafe for 30 minutes maximum). Some people were not allowed to have cats in their buildings (a common problem in cities in Japan, where cat cafes are quite popular), some had roommates with allergies, and more than a few said that they already had a fair amount of cats, but were open to the possibility of adopting “just one more.”
This image has been archived or removed.
Photo: Lori Greenberg
All of the cats got adopted after the three-day event, totaling 36 kitties. In addition to 21 cats lounging around inside the café, there was an animal adoption truck parked outside, with another 15 critters. Over 5,000 people from all over the globe took part in the Livestream on Purina ONE’s site. The cats were also quite popular on Twitter, with 3,000 mentions attributed to the hashtag #CatCafe popping up by mid-day during the first day of the event. Once again proving that Al Gore invented the internet for cute animal pictures.
This image has been archived or removed.
Photo: Lori Greenberg
To check out more info about the Cat Café, or to find out about future events, go to the Purina ONE site.
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