Photo via LIC Feral Feeders.
BY COLE SINANIAN
cole@queensledger.com
SUNNYSIDE — Long Island City has transformed into a forest of glass skyscrapers in recent years, but have you ever wondered where all the street cats went?
As Western Queens resident Victoria Koulouris explained at a Queens Community Board 2 meeting in Sunnyside on May 7, street cats live in colonies, and when these colonies are disturbed by developments, the cats, like people, are displaced.
“This is probably one of the biggest impacts that I felt having grown up in Long Island City, is seeing that the colonies that we’ve been caring for for the last 10 years have really sort of disappeared,” she said. “Where do those cats go?”
Recent estimates have put the citywide street cat population at somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million and counting. In response to this booming population, Koulouris founded a nonprofit called LIC Feral Feeders that serves these displaced felines. Her organization has mobilized a team of 170 volunteers that help feed and care for the area’s unhoused cats while tackling their booming population through a trap, neuter and release program (TNR).
“We are going outside and we are finding cats that are in need,” Koulouris said. “Cats that live outdoors that don’t have any services. Cats that are reproducing like crazy and trying to get control over the population in Western Queens and beyond.”
In 2024, LIC Feral Feeders spayed and neutered a total of 240 cats, a number that jumped to 590 in 2025, while adoption rates increased too, with 72 adopted in 2024 and 151 adopted in 2025.
“When they look like they are in need of medical help, we bring them to a vet,” she continued. “We also find cats that look like they’re friendly and possibly could be adopted.”
While the organization is growing with the help of groups like Cultural Lab LIC, the ASPCA, Materials for the Arts, the Queens Public Library and others, with growth comes greater needs. Currently, the group has no formal headquarters, relying on partnerships, pop-up events and help from the Long Island City ASPCA. LIC Feral Feeders has primarily operated its foster system out of volunteers’ homes and temporary spaces around Queens, but is now in the process of moving into an already acquired, 400 square-foot space in Hunters Point, which will allow them to expand their services and reach in Long Island City.
As LIC Feral Feeders Director of Operations Jannatul Ahmed explained, the new space will allow the organization to provide low-cost spay and neutering services to cat owners in the community who can’t afford to have their pets fixed.
“So much of pet veterinary care has become privatized, owned by private equity and it’s not good for us, not good for our community members,” said Ahmed.
“We need all kinds of volunteers, fosters especially, “ she added. “But for this project, we’re really looking for somebody who can lend their expertise, their time, their money. All help is welcomed.”
