Inside Meow Parlour, NYC’s First Cat Café

If busy New Yorkers have to wait in line, it'd better be for something worth their while. And, the opening of Meow Parlour, the city's first permanent cat café, is worth it — and then some.

Ever since founders Christina Ha and Emilie Legrand announced the patisserie partnership with rescue group KittyKind, the Internet could barely contain its excitement. The level of anticipation prior to its December 15 opening date rivaled the fanfare surrounding Cronuts or Alexander Wang sample sales. Reservations for kitty playtime have already been fully booked until February — and they even managed to #BreakTheInternet briefly.

This morning, we popped over to 46 Hester Street to scope things out (and get some feline TLC) before its grand debut. For all the hullabaloo surrounding this establishment, the actual space is surprisingly cozy and peaceful. A friendly clowder of calicoes, tuxedos, and tabbies — all available for adoption — lounged around for some petting and photo sessions. If they need downtime, there's also a resting area that's off limits to patrons — unless, of course, you are renowned cat lady Taylor Swift. Four dollars per half-hour of snuggling with these cuties while munching on feline-shaped macarons definitely isn't too high a price to pay, because, really, you can't put a price on cuddling.