Pancha

Pancha works at Clinton Fruit Market in Hell's Kitchen. There is a flower stand out front called Pascal's Flowers. The two businesses share the space. Pancha covers both.

She is 16 years old. She has been sitting in the same spot among the buckets and bouquets for as long as anyone can remember.

The local block association nominated her for "Best Bodega Cat" in the city. The nomination said she was "truly a celebrity on this block with many admirers."

She did not win. A cat named Oreo from Flatbush took the title. But on Pancha's block, nobody cares about Oreo.

Followers told us Pancha shows up on Google Street View four different times. We could only find two of them.

In one capture, a stranger is stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, leaning down to pet her. Google's car photographed the whole thing. The stranger does not know they are being recorded. Pancha does not care.

When she is not in her usual spot, the neighbors text each other and check.

She is the kind of cat people keep track of.

We visited three times before we got our photos.

The first time, she was sleeping, so we honored her strict do-not-disturb policy and left.

The second time, she was not there. Nobody knew where she went. We left again.

The third time, she had drawn a small crowd of school kids. They were taking turns petting her. We waited. They eventually moved on. She stayed exactly where she was.

She stayed in her usual spot for our camera. Google Street View had already recorded her outside the market on at least two dates we could verify.

Bodega Cats of New York is available for preorder now and publishes November 3, 2026.