Int. 0830-2026 is the current NYC Council bill aimed at protecting working cats in retail food stores. It carries forward Int. 1471, the original 2025 bill introduced by Councilmember Keith Powers with five co-sponsors. What it does, what it does not do, and where it stands.
The Problem
NYC Health Code Section 81.25 prohibits animals in food establishments. Fines run $200 to $300. Enforcement is inconsistent. Some inspectors look the other way. Others write the citation.
Store owners face a choice every day. A cat fine costs $200. A rodent citation can reach $2,000. The cat stays.
BCNY has estimated, from archive visits rather than a citywide survey, that roughly 30 to 40 percent of bodegas have cats. There is no official count. Even the number of bodegas is hard to pin down because stores register as delicatessens, small supermarkets, specialty stores, and other categories. The estimate is observational, not a government statistic.
What the Bill Does
Three things.
It prevents the city's administrative code from being used to prohibit cats in retail food stores. Any conflicting local rule gets overridden.
It creates a free vaccination program for cats in retail food stores, administered by the Office of Animal Welfare and the Department of Small Business Services.
It creates a free spay/neuter program through the same offices. This matters because bodega cats mix with street cats constantly. Without addressing reproduction, legal protection adds to the overpopulation pressures rescue workers have fought for decades.
Both programs would launch within 180 days of funding. The city would also be required to do multilingual outreach so store owners actually know the programs exist.
What It Does Not Do
Int. 0830 does not override state law.
New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets regulations classify live animals in retail food stores as prohibited. That prohibition stays on the books even after the city bill passes. For full legalization, Albany has to act separately.
The bill's own text includes this line: "Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to limit or interfere with the actions of any state agency acting pursuant to applicable state law or regulations."
In practice, state enforcement on individual bodegas is almost nonexistent. The Department of Agriculture and Markets does not send inspectors into bodegas looking for cats. The enforcement pressure owners face comes from the city, not Albany. Removing that pressure is the immediate practical effect of Int. 0830.
How It Got Here
In January 2025, a petition on Change.org asked the city to recognize bodega cats as working animals. More than 13,500 people signed. The coverage spread from NPR to the New York Times to Japanese national television.
In March, a call with the Mayor's Office of Animal Welfare made the constraints clear: the city's hands were legally tied by state regulations. The only path forward was legislation.
Councilmember Keith Powers reached out in June 2025. He worked with our office on the bill language over the next several months. On November 12, he filed Int. 1471 with five co-sponsors: Francisco P. Moya, Sandy Nurse, Chi A. Osse, Frank Morano, and David M. Carr. After Powers left office, Morano introduced the current bill as Int. 0830-2026.
The full story of how the petition became a bill is here.
Where It Stands
Powers left office in December 2025 due to term limits. Councilmember Frank Morano volunteered to take over as prime sponsor. A Republican from Staten Island picking up a bill introduced by a Democrat from Manhattan.
The bill is assigned to the Committee on Health, chaired by Lynn Schulman. No hearing has been scheduled. It needs a committee hearing, a committee vote, a full Council vote, and the mayor's signature.
There is no organized opposition. The challenge is getting a hearing scheduled, not winning the floor vote. The current bill status is covered here.
The State Bill
A separate bill, A08341, was introduced in the New York State Assembly by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal. It would require the Department of Agriculture and Markets to create official care standards for cats in retail food stores across every county in the state.
The city bill would stop punishment, while the state bill would authorize the cats and set the rule. The two are complementary.
A08341 was re-referred to the Assembly Agriculture Committee on January 7, 2026. It needs a Senate sponsor. The current state bill breakdown is here.
What You Can Do
Sign the petition if you have not: Change.org
Contact your NYC Council member. Ask them to co-sponsor Int. 0830 or push for a hearing.
Contact your State Senator. Ask them to co-sponsor A08341 in the Senate.
Track the bills:
- City: Int. 0830-2026
- State: A08341
Bodega Cats of New York is available for preorder now and publishes November 3, 2026.
Related stories
This week I sat down with the executive director of the City Council's Animal Welfare Caucus to talk about Int. 0830, the bodega cat bill.
See the official cover, finished interior spreads, trailer, and a look at how Bodega Cats of New York was made.
The answer is to set rules that help the cats and the owners who already care for them.
Published April 11, 2025
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