The Cat Men of Gotham

PEGGY GAVAN is a journalist and senior editor who lives in Warwick, New York. She is the author of several children’s books and the blog The Hatching Cat: True and Unusual Animal Tales of Old New York, which has been profiled in Newsweek and the New York Times.

Contents

Introduction

1          Seafaring Cats

1893: The Brave and Brawny Cats of the Brooklyn Navy Yard

1898: Tom, the Old Navy Cat That Survived the USS Maine Explosion

1917-1922: Woo-Ki, Tai-Wan, and the Refugee Pirate Cats of Chelsea Piers

1929: Olaf, the Viking Cat Rescued at Sea en Route to Brooklyn

1933: Tommy Mulligan, the Norton’s Point Lighthouse Cat of Coney Island

2          Police Cats

1893: The Tombs’ Feline Warden That Befriended Prisoners on Murderers’ Row

1904–1911: Pete and Bill, the Bronx Mousers on the Job in Morrisania

1909: Claude, the Police Cat of East Harlem Who Did Justice to a Red Fox

1911: Buster and Topsy, the Rival Feline Mascots of the Lower East Side

1915: Sir Tom, the Rural Police Cat of Washington Heights

1934: Arson and Homicide, the Flat-Footed Felines of Police Headquarters

3          Fire Cats

1886: The 10 Lives of Hero, the Fire Cat of Engine Company No. 1 in Chelsea

1894: Ginger, the Shipbuilders’ Fire Cat of the Lower East Side

1895: Tootsy, the Feline Firefighter of Engine Company No. 27 

1896: Peter and Chops, the Ebony and Ivory Fire Cats of the Flatiron District

1913: Peter, the Pole-Sliding Fire Cat of Bushwick, Brooklyn

1924: Smoke, the Famous Lafayette Street Firehouse Cat Who Went on Strike

4          Classical Cats

1884: Mutilator and the Legendary Newspaper Office Cats of the New York Sun

1891: Princess, Josephine, and the 101 Feline Models of Cat Artist J.H. Dolph

1895: Taffy, the Laird, and the Clowder of Town Topics Office Cats

1905: Bambino, the City Cat That Stole Away from Mark Twain

5          Hospitality Cats

1920: Minnie, the Female Mouser of a Manhattan Men-Only Speakeasy

1928: Abe, the Times Square Tiger Cat Who Refused to Scat from the Hotel Lincoln

1936: Rusty, the Famous Feline Host of the Algonquin Hotel

6          Theatrical and Show Cats

1877-1881: The Felines of the Cat Congress on Bowery and Broadway

1888: Union Square Jim, the Mascot Cat of the Union Square Theatre

1895: Nicodemus, the Prize-Winning Alley Cat of Prankster Brian G. Hughes

1932: Tommy Casanova, the Lady-Killer Cat Mascot of The Lambs

7          Civil Servant Cats

1891: Old Tom, the Brazen Pampered Pet of New York City Hall

1904: The Feline Police Squad of New York’s General Post Office

1904: Jerry Fox, the Spectacled Cat of Brooklyn Who Saved Borough Hall

1930: Tammany, the Democratic Boss Cat of New York City Hall

1939: Snooky, the Sophisticated, Salmon-Loving Cat of New York City Hall

8          Good-Luck Cats        

1905: Bright Eyes, the Good-Luck Kitten of the Battery-Joralemon Tunnel

1910: Trent, the Airship Mascot Cat Who Wowed the Crowd at Gimbels

1927: Ranger I and Ranger III, the Mascot Cats of the New York Rangers

1927: Victory, the Feline Good-Luck Charm of the Brooklyn Robins

9          Lucky Cats     

1899: Olympia, the Dewey Arch Cat, and Her Lucky Christmas Kittens

1904 and 1908: Holey and Gittel, the Cats with 10 Lives on the Lower East Side

1906: The East Harlem Cats Bequeathed to President Theodore Roosevelt

1912: Kaiser, the Feline Survivor of the Great Equitable Life Building Fire

1925: Blackie, the Mother Mouser Who Stopped Traffic on Lafayette Street 

       

Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading          

Index