MacDougal Street

MacDougal Street, between Bleecker Street and West 3rd Street

MacDougal Street is a one way street in Greenwich Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The approximate six block street is bound by Prince Street and West 8th Street. It has been the subject of many songs, poems, and other forms of artistic expression. MacDougal Street has been frequented by numerous famous individuals.

Historic locations and residents

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2009)

• On the corner of West 8th Street/MacDougal at 32 West 8th Street is the former location of 8th Street Books, where Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg first met.

• Jackson Pollock lived in apartment no. 9 in MacDougal Alley.^[1]

• At the corner of MacDougal/Washington Square North at 27 is the former residence of Matthew Broderick and Uta Hagen.

• Eleanor Roosevelt lived on the corner of MacDougal/Washington Square North at 29 after the death of president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

• The southwest corner of Washington Square Park, which flanks one side of MacDougal Street, is the site of many historic chess games as well as the film Searching for Bobby Fischer.

• Eugene O'Neill lived at the corner of MacDougal/Washington Square South at No. 38.

• In the upstairs of 137 MacDougal Street was the homebase of the Liberal Club which existed during the 1910s. Members included such notable intellectuals as: Sherwood Anderson, Theodore Dreiser, Max Eastman, Emma Goldman, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, Margaret Sanger, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens.

• The Provincetown Playhouse is where Bette Davis got her start.

• 146 MacDougal used to be a Caribbean restaurant frequented by James Baldwin, Paul Robeson, Marlon Brando, Eartha Kitt, and Henry Miller.

• Cafe Reggio, a coffeehouse since 1927, has been featured in many movies, including Godfather II. Many celebrities have been spotted or photographed in this location. In 1959, presidential hopeful John F. Kennedy made a speech outside the coffee shop.

• Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women at 130-132 MacDougal Street.

• The Comedy Cellar at 117 MacDougal Street has featured nearly every notable American comedian.

• Bob Dylan had his first New York City gig at Cafe Wha?. This is also where Jimi Hendrix first became famous.

No. 114, Esperanto Café, in 2009

• No. 116 MacDougal Street used to be the Gaslight Cafe, where Gregory Corso, Bob Dylan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, LeRoi Jones, Jack Kerouac, Ray Bremser, and many others would read poetry. Bob Dylan lived there for a time.

• Minetta Tavern is a trattoria/bar which has seen such regulars as E.E. Cummings, Joe Gould, Ernest Hemingway, Eugene O'Neill, Ezra Pound, and many others.

• At 114, which is now Esperanto Cafe, is the site of a famous fist-fight between Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan.

• At the corner of MacDougal and Bleecker Street, at 93, is the former site of the rowdy San Remo Cafe, which attracted many bohemians such as James Agee, W. H. Auden, James Baldwin, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Miles Davis, Allen Ginsberg, Frank O'Hara, Jack Kerouac, Jackson Pollock, William Styron, Dylan Thomas, Gore Vidal, and many others.

• Bob Dylan also lived in No. 92-94.

External links and References

• Macdougal Street: A New York Songline
• A Village Walking Tour
• A Bob Dylan Timeline
• A New York Post Article about the Beats in Greenwich Village
• Minetta Tavern on Time Out New York
• Caffe Reggio website and history

References

1. ^ Gupte, Pranay. "Macdougal Alley Passes a Milestone; Macdougal Alley Passes a Milestone", The New York Times, August 19, 1973. Accessed December 22, 2008.