In October, Instagram removed the @bodegacatsofnewyork (now back as @newyorkbodegacats but starting over) account without warning or explanation. Four years of posts. Thousands of comments from people who recognized their corner store cat. Gone in an instant. Still not restored.

The photos and stories still exist. But the platform that connected them to people does not. That can happen to any account, any time, for any reason.

This petition proved something different. 13,000 signatures do not disappear when a platform changes its mind. They are on record. They helped introduce Int. 1471. They showed City Council that bodega cats have a real constituency. That cannot be undone.

A petition lasts. A book lasts. An Instagram account does not.

When I started documenting bodega cats in 2020, there was no permanent record of them. No archive. No catalog. If a bodega closes, the cat who lived there for a decade disappears from memory. The owner moves on. Regulars scatter. Nobody wrote it down.

Over four years, I have visited hundreds of bodegas across all five boroughs. Talked to owners, workers, customers. Collected names, stories, histories that would otherwise vanish. Gulce photographed the cats where they live and work.

Your signatures moved legislation. The book makes sure the cats themselves are not forgotten.

Bodega Cats of New York arrives October 2026 from Quarto Publishing. If you want first access when pre-orders open: https://bodegacatsofnewyork.com/book

And if you want to follow the rebuild: www.instagram.com/newyorkbodegacats

Dan