By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHINATOWN — Watch out subway rats!
A stray cat has found itself a home in the bowels of the East Broadway F train subway stop, where feline-loving straphangers are now leaving food for the gritty kitty.
Frank Peterson, 77, first spotted the cat, which appears to be fully grown with white hair and black spots on its back and behind its ears, back in August.
"I'd like to adopt her if I could," he said, peering through the gate and whistling to try to coax the cat out of the darkness. The animal had not shown itself all day. But DNAinfo managed to snap a photo of the Culver line cat late one night.
Peterson took a can of salmon-flavored Friskies from his pocket, but put it back.
"I'm not going to feed her today because her plate is still full," he said. Someone else had put food out behind the gate already.
Peterson told DNAinfo he's encountered at least three other people who leave food and water for the cat. He said he spends $15 a month buying cat food in bulk so he can feed strays around the city.
"My family has always had cats and dogs," he said. "I don't have one now, so I come here."
Other straphangers were unaware of the cat's existence.
"I have only noticed rats and birds," in the station, David Drago, who has worked nearby for six years, told DNAinfo. "There are a lot of stray cats [in the city], if someone is feeding it, it's fine."
But Debrah Jacobson, who frequently catches the F at East Broadway, had concerns.
"I don't think it's great that the cat is living down here," she said. "I think someone should find it a home. Unless he's going to catch the rats, but I think the rats might be bigger than the cat."
