Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill

While New Yorkers have been consumed by the stock market meltdown, a tiny little pet store quietly opened four days ago at 89 7th Avenue between West 4th and Bleeker Street in the West Village. There are no puppies or kittens in the windows here. Instead, a live leopard lounges on a tree in the window. Or is it?

In other windows, things get a bit more bizarre. McDonald's Chicken McNuggets sip barbecue sauce. A rabbit puts on her makeup. A CCTV camera nurtures its young. Clearly, this isn't your typical pet store.

So who's the "owner" of the Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill? Banksy.

Once inside Banksy's pet store, you discover such things as breaded fish that swim in a large round bowl while hot dogs are living the high life under heat lamps in cages near the cash register.

This is the first time that Banksy has used animatronics, and the effect is absolutely amazing. A clear departure form last year's behemoth show in Los Angeles, Banksy's first ever show in New York City (the others have been fakes) is being held in a tiny storefront that's less than 300 square feet and can't hold more than 20 people at any one time. Unless you're a hard core Banksy fan or until someone like us tells you, it's absolutely impossible to know that the work has been done by Banksy - there are no paintings or graffiti in the entire space.

Now through October 31st, Banksy's pet store is open from 10am until midnight.