2-Month-Old Kitten Saved From Busy Brooklyn Street

Photos courtesy of the NYPD

WINDSOR TERRACE, BROOKLYN — This is the story of a two-month-old kitten who darted into noontime traffic on Ocean Parkway and made it out alive.

For that, the kitten has three big-hearted humans to thank: Windsor Terrace resident Geraldine Cassone, in whose wheel well the kitten is said to have taken refuge on Monday; and NYPD Officers Christopher Rinelli, 28, and Kenia Marte, 39, who re-directed traffic and sorted through the under-workings of Cassone‘s vehicle until they found and freed the baby cat.

According to the officers, Cassone flagged them down around 12:30 p.m. after she spotted a black kitten darting across Ocean Parkway at Sherman Street, near Park Circle — then up into her wheel well.

As the NYPD tells it:

[Rinelli and Marte] immediately made the scene safe and began looking for the kitten. The officers were not able reach the kitten who had climbed up into the undercarriage of the car, so they used a jack to lift the vehicle and removed the wheel where the kitten was located. Officer Rinelli was then able to reach the female kitten and carefully placed her into a towel. Although cold and wet, the kitten appeared to be unharmed.

Brooklyn Paper reported that a group of local high-schoolers also got involved at one point, and that the whole ordeal lasted upward of two hours. From the Paper:

Eventually, Cassone corralled a few high-school students to help roll the car over to the curb — relieving the pent-up traffic and catching the eyes of Officers Christopher Rinelli and Kenia Marte, who rushed over to lend a hand.

The cops then worked diligently for two-and-a-half hours to liberate the mini mouser, eventually using a jack to lift the car up and grab the grungy gal from underneath, according to Cassone. At one point, Rinelli was literally on his back in the snow straining the save the kitty, she said.

Now that Brooklyn’s luckiest kitten is out of harm’s way, Cassone — the driver who first spotted the cat — intends to adopt her, police said.

But before she goes home for good, the cat is reportedly being treated for an eye infection at Sean Casey Animal Rescue in Windsor Terrace.

“She’s beautiful,” Cassone told the Paper. “She’s going to get a good home at my house or with one of my children.”