Now Hiring: Job Listings for the Aspiring Bodega Cat (Benefits Pending)

The bodega cat is a fixture of the New York City workforce, holding down a role with no benefits, no contract, and, as it happens, no legal standing whatsoever. Under the city’s health code, a live cat in a store that sells food is a violation, and the fines climb from a few hundred dollars to as much as $2,000 for repeat offenders. None of which has ever deterred a single cat. They keep tabs on the chip and toilet-paper inventory, deliver an interactive shopping experience, and put any rodent (or dog) bold enough to wander in firmly in its place. It is good work if you can get it. So we rounded up the postings currently making the rounds, with one piece of news the applicants will want to know.

Wanted: Essential Worker

Must bring an unflinching attitude. Sweet face required, with the ability to flip the switch at a moment’s notice. Daily duties include greeting customers, chasing flies, ignoring customers, napping, locating the sunspot, putting dogs in their place, and light arithmetic.

Seeking On-Site Pest Control

A thrilling opportunity for the right candidate. You will patrol the aisles in search of intruders, then apprehend and escort them off the premises. Must be a team player who welcomes constructive feedback. Note: the entire job description is the reason the city looks the other way.

Pss Pss Pss Pss Pss

Here, kitty kitty! Want a treat? Come on over and the treats are all yours. Congratulations, you live here now.

Position Available: Window

We are after a self-starter, self-groomer, and occasional self-stopper. Open floor plan, but feel free to customize the space as you see/fit. Benefits include an employer-matched 401K, a discounted gym membership, and an on-site cafe (eat whatever you catch).

Hiring Immediately!!! No Experience Needed!!!

Apply if you have soft fur, a gritty tongue, and a real hunger for a challenge. On-site training provided, plus generous leisure time. Set your own hours.

Looking for a Boss

Do you have what it takes to be a CEO (Cat Executive Officer)? Fluency in hiss, scratch, and sarcasm is required. Standard hours (24). Bring adequate people skills, or don’t, it is honestly not a dealbreaker.

Now Pending: An Actual HR Department

Here is the development that may finally give these workers a contract. The bodega cat’s legal limbo has become a genuine cause. After the @BodegaCatsofNewYork account turned the city’s corner-store felines into folk heroes, a petition to protect them gathered more than 13,000 signatures, and lawmakers noticed. In May 2025, State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced a bill directing New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets to draft “responsible care standards” for cats in food stores, things like regular veterinary care, vaccinations, spay or neuter requirements, and designated “cat zones.” That November, the City Council took up its own measure, Introduction 1471, which would simply stop treating a store cat as a code violation and pair the change with voluntary vaccination and spay programs.

Translated into the language of the job postings above: the positions may soon come with actual benefits, a health plan, and an HR department that finally acknowledges the cat exists. Standard hours (24) are expected to remain unchanged.

References

• amNewYork, “A Bill Legalizing Bodega Cats Purrs Through NYS Legislature.”
• ABC7 New York, “New Legislation Would Protect New York Felines That Live in Retail Stores.”
• NY1, “Bodega Cats May Finally Get Legal Status Under New City Council Bill.”