The Mayor of Seventh Street.

"'You get so hard living here," he said in a gravelly, mournful voice. 'But pets open up that heart center. There is something about the unconditional love; they clean the blues off of you. 'That's their mission. That's why a lot of New Yorkers have pets.'" The NYT reports in on the passing of Pretty Boy, stray cat and late prince of the East Village.