After quelling the kvetching from those shmendriks at the Department of Building, the long-awaited Upper East Side location of the 2nd Ave Deli will open tomorrow at 6 a.m. According to a press release sent out earlier today, Upper East Side residents "will soon have their matzo balls, pastrami and chopped liver closer to home" when the new location opens with "a traditional, ceremonial cutting of 'nickel shtickel' salami links" at 11 a.m. And then everyone will toast the new location with an Apple Latke Martini! What the hell is that!? more ›

Cats in delis: they are ubiquitous, loved, objected to, necessary, and illegal. City inspectors are constantly on the prowl to ferret out deli felines, but deli owners say they are necessary fixtures to keep their businesses free of pests like mice, rats, and roaches. The New York Times has a story today on the ongoing battle between the city and the cats that are the sentinels of its delis--feline samurai who serve their masters in return for food, shelter, and the occasional scratch behind the ears.

To store owners, the services of cats are indispensable in a city where the rodent problem is serious enough to be documented in a still popular two-minute video clip on YouTube from late February (youtube.com/watch?v=su0U37w2tws) of rats running amok in a KFC/Taco Bell in Greenwich Village. Store-dwelling cats are so common that there is a Web site, workingclasscats.com, dedicated to telling their tales.