Park Slope Bodega Cat Jabal Is Back Home After Neighbors Help Bring Him to Eighth Street Mini Market
When Jabal made it back to Eighth Street Mini Market, the tiny bodega cat was returning to more than a store. He was coming back to owner Jimmy Innab and to a Park Slope block that had spent days trying to bring him home.
Jabal’s return gave Park Slope one of those neighborhood endings people hope for but do not always get. Police said the 3 month old kitten is safe, and back where he belongs at the Eighth Street Mini Market.
For Innab, the reunion carried extra weight. Jabal was not just any shop cat. He had been taken in as the next bodega cat for the market after Victoria, the store’s longtime cat, died in June following 17 years there. By the time Jabal disappeared, he was already part of a place with deep roots on the block, and his absence quickly became everyone’s concern.
How the kitten vanished
Jabal went missing on Sept. 10 from the Eighth Street Mini Market in Park Slope. Surveillance video showed a man and a woman picking him up outside the store and leaving with him.
Innab, who is known as Jimmy, and his family put up a $500 reward for Jabal’s safe return, with no questions asked. That offer became one piece of a much larger neighborhood effort, as customers and nearby residents tried to help recover the kitten.
The disappearance stood out partly because Jabal was so young. He was 3 months old, and he had also been scheduled to receive a microchip with identification information. Instead, the market suddenly found itself without its new cat, and Innab without the kitten he had chosen to follow Victoria.
A search powered by the block
The response around the store was immediate and personal. Neighbors handed out flyers, walked the area, and kept sharing updates online as word spread beyond the block.
Dan Janzen, who lives across from the market, said the push to find Jabal was about more than the kitten alone. He said people cared deeply about Jabal, but they also cared about Innab and wanted to keep his spirits up while the search continued.
That says a lot about what a bodega cat can come to mean in New York City. Cats like Jabal often serve as companions and mascots in neighborhood stores, while also helping with pests. In this case, his disappearance became a way of showing how closely tied the Eighth Street Mini Market is to the people around it.
The search also picked up speed through local coverage and Reddit, where posts about Jabal drew wide attention. Five days after he went missing, the market got a call from someone who said they knew where the kitten was and that he would be returned from Bushwick.
The route back to Jimmy
Jabal’s journey home ended through the police. The kitten was brought to a New York Police Department precinct in Park Slope by the stepson of the woman seen leaving with him. Officers then returned Jabal to Innab at the market.
Police also said they arrested a 58 year old woman in connection with the disappearance. They identified her as Bushwick resident Mary Sierra. According to police, she faces charges including petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and companion animal stealing.
Sierra has denied stealing the kitten. Police said the arrest followed their investigation into what happened after Jabal was taken from outside the store.
The legal case will move on its own track. What mattered first to Innab and to the people who had been looking for Jabal was that the kitten had been found and brought back alive.
Back where he belongs
There is a simple comfort to the way this story ends. Jabal is back at Eighth Street Mini Market, resuming life with Innab and with the neighborhood that helped search for him.
That homecoming means something different because of Victoria’s long run at the store. Seventeen years is enough for a cat to become part of a community’s everyday memory, and Jabal had arrived as her successor. His disappearance interrupted that handoff almost as soon as it began. His return allowed it to continue.
It also offered a reminder of how these small local places work. A market cat may belong legally to one person, but in practice the animal can become familiar to a whole block. People notice when that cat is gone. They share the posters, they check messages, they follow leads, and they hope.
In Jabal’s case, all of that added up to a result Innab and his customers had been waiting for. The kitten who vanished from outside the market is home again, safe, and back with the owner and neighborhood that never stopped looking for him.
What a shop cat does
A shop cat is a pet who lives in or regularly spends time in a small business. People often value these cats for companionship, a familiar presence, and help discouraging rodents. A healthy shop cat still needs the same basics as any other cat: regular meals, fresh water, a clean litter area, a quiet place to rest, and routine veterinary care.
If a cat stays at a workplace, consistency matters. Staff should know the feeding schedule, where the cat hides when stressed, and who is responsible for daily checks.
How to help a missing cat return
Lost cats are often found close to the place they know best, hiding silently under cars, in basements, behind stock, or in fenced areas. Search slowly and look low. Call in a calm voice, especially during quieter hours, and ask nearby homes and businesses to check enclosed spaces.
Use a recent photo, share clear contact details, and keep the cat's microchip information current. Familiar scents, such as bedding or a used blanket, can help guide a nervous cat back.
Ways to keep a store cat safer
A breakaway collar with ID can help, if the cat tolerates it. Keep doors watched during busy periods, and make sure the cat has an indoor retreat away from deliveries and crowds. Recent photos of distinguishing marks can save time if the cat slips out.
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