Brooklyn's First Cat Cafe Moves to Montague Street

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Cat lovers prayers that the boroughs first cat cafe wouldn't go far when it closed its Atlantic Avenue location late last year have been answered. The Brooklyn Cat Cafe has officially moved into a bigger space just a few blocks north of its former location.

The cafe first moved into the 76 Montague Street spot in December, but has been putting the final touches on the space until this week. It will hold a grand opening party starting at 7 p.m. in the new digs this Wednesday.

The new 2,321-square-foot spot will become the permanent location for the cat cafe, which lets visitors hang out with cats from the non-profit animal shelter the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition.

“Since our inception, the Brooklyn Cat Cafe’s aim has been to build a bridge between animal rescuers and neighbors in our borough," BBAWC Executive Director Anne Levin said. "This new, larger space deepens our ability to initiate more community programming and demonstrates our commitment to the neighborhood.”

Over 80 cats and kittens have found their "forever families" following the move, Levin added, and the organization hopes even more can do so in the new space.

Brooklyn Cat Café and BBAWC are entirely volunteer-run organizations.

The new space includes a floor-to-ceiling kitten terrarium to house a mother with young kittens, complete with a webcam to watch them grow at home. It also includes homes for some other non-feline friends, such as the cafe's turtles and two newly rescued lab rats named Pinky and the Brain.

There is also a private rescue and quarantine space allowing for trap neuter return for the borough and a private events space.

Brooklyn Cat Cafe first became a neighborhood favorite after opening in May, 2016.

It made national headlines in 2017 when news broke that a pair of rats named Emile and Remy were taking care of a herd of unruly kittens.