The Bodega Cat of 147th Street

The bodega on my corner in Harlem has a cat named Chulo who sleeps on the bread shelf and is, by most accounts, the mayor of the block.

Chulo greets customers by headbutting their shins. He has strong opinions about which customers deserve attention. He likes the mail carrier, the kids coming home from school and an old man named Mr. Bernard who buys a lottery ticket every day and gives Chulo a little piece of his ham sandwich.

When the bodega owner, Ramón, went to the Dominican Republic for two weeks to visit his mother, the whole block took turns making sure Chulo was fed and happy. There was a sign-up sheet taped to the register.

When Ramón came back, he found a card on the counter, signed by thirty-two neighbors: "Welcome home. Chulo was a perfect gentleman. Mostly." Ramón framed it and hung it over the bread shelf.