BY JOSEPH REIVER | Tomcat, the stray cat of the Elizabeth Street Garden, passed on Sat., March 16, just before the garden opened. It was a beautiful and quiet spring morning, just before the day of Saint Gertrude, the patron saint of cats and gardeners.
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Tomcat was first found in the garden more than 12 years ago when a track of small paw prints in the snow led behind the lean-to at the Little Italy green space. ESG’s gardener, Patricia Squillari, built a small heated cabin for him to get through the cold winters.
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True to his feral nature, he was a wandering poet that you may have seen around the Elizabeth Street Garden’s planting beds, sneaking through a shrub, or napping in the sun.
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We’re so grateful that you made this place your home all those years ago, Tomcat. May you rest in the garden now. You were the sweetest grump a gardener could ask for.
Reiver is executive director, Elizabeth Street Garden.
Dearest Tomcat, thank you for being the garden’s most magical poet &
dream in peace…