MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

and

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

neighborhoods of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Between

Waverly Place Waverly Place is a narrow street in the Greenwich Village section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, that runs from Bank Street to Broadway. Waverly changes direction roughly at its midpoint at Christopher Street, turning about 120 d ...

and West 3rd Street it carries the name Washington Square West and the numbering scheme changes, running north to south, beginning with #29 Washington Square West at Waverly Place and ending at #37 at West 3rd Street. Traffic on the street runs southbound (downtown). MacDougal Street is named for

Alexander McDougall Alexander McDougall (1732 9 June 1786) was a Scottish-born American seaman, merchant, a Sons of Liberty leader from New York City before and during the American Revolution, and a military leader during the Revolutionary War. He served as a m ...

, a merchant and Revolutionary War military leader. MacDougall is also the namesake of MacDougal Alley, a private cul-de-sac owned jointly by the residents of Washington Square North to its south and West 8th Street to its north, for whom it was created in 1833 for their stables. The Alley runs east off MacDougal Street in the block between West 8th Street and Waverly Place/Washington Square North. MacDougal Street has been called "the most colorful and magnetic venue for tourists on an evening outing in the Village". It has been the subject of many songs, poems, and other forms of artistic expression, and has been frequented by numerous famous individuals.

Historic locations and residents

MacDougal Street *No. 59 was the location of Avignone Chemists, the oldest apothecary in the United States. Originally named Stock Pharmacy, the name changed when Francis Avignone purchased the pharmacy in 1898. Avignone was recognized as an important small business with the presentation of a Village Award by the

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Village Preservation (formerly the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, or GVSHP) is a non-profit organization which advocates for the preservation of architecture and culture in several neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, New York. ...

in 2013. *Nos. 74–96 between

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

and Bleecker Streets are houses of the MacDougal–Sullivan Gardens Historic District, which were built c.1844 in the Greek Revival style. However, the houses deteriorated over time until they were bought by

William Sloane Coffin William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 – April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ. In h ...

in 1920 and thoroughly renovated by Francis Y. Joannes and Maxwell Hyde in Colonial Revival style in 1921; their rear yards were combined with those of the houses behind them on

Sullivan Street Sullivan Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, which previously ran north from Duarte Square at Canal Street, but since around 2012 begins at Broome Street, to Washington Square South, through the neighborhoods of Hudson Square, SoHo, the So ...

to make a common garden. *No. 77 is the clubhouse of the New York Rifle Club (Trio a Segno). *Cafe Dante, at No. 81 features a giant photo mural of Florence. * At the corner of MacDougal and Bleecker Street, at No. 93, is the former site of the

San Remo Cafe The San Remo Cafe was a bar at 93 MacDougal Street at the corner of Bleecker Street in the New York City neighborhood of Greenwich Village. It was a hangout for Bohemians and writers such as James Agee, W. H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, James Baldw ...

, which attracted many bohemians such as James Agee,

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

, James Baldwin,

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

Gregory Corso Gregory Nunzio Corso (March 26, 1930 – January 17, 2001) was an American poet and a key member of the Beat movement. He was the youngest of the inner circle of Beat Generation writers (with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burrou ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, Frank O'Hara, Jack Kerouac,

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed fi ...

, Dylan Thomas,

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

and many others. The cafe is featured on the cover of

Fred Neil Fred Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material& ...

's debut folk-rock album '' Bleecker & MacDougal''. *Bob Dylan bought an apartment in 1969 at No. 94."What Do Anna Wintour and Bob Dylan Have in Common? This Secret Garden"
by Steven Kurutz, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', September 28, 2016 *No. 99 was home of

99 Records 99 Records was an American independent record label, active from 1980 to 1984. The label was home to musicians in the no wave, post-punk, post-disco, and avant-garde scenes in New York City. History British designer Gina Franklyn sold British fa ...

, a progressive music and fashion store owned by Gina Franklin and

Ed Bahlman Ed Bahlman (born 1950) is the American founder of 99 Records, the postpunk label from New York, home to ESG and Liquid Liquid. He also ran an independent record shop of the same name at 99 MacDougal Street in New York City, an iconic import record ...

. 99 Records released 1980's club hits by

Liquid Liquid Liquid Liquid is an American no wave and dance-punk group, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are best known for their track "Cavern," which was covered—without proper permission or attribution—by the Sugar Hill Records house band as ...

, ESG, and the

Bush Tetras Bush Tetras are an American post-punk band from New York City, formed in 1979. They are best known for the 1980 song "Too Many Creeps", which exemplified the band's sound of "jagged rhythms, slicing guitars, and sniping vocals".E. E. Cummings, Joe Gould,

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

, Ezra Pound and many others. *The bar Kettle of Fish opened in 1950 at No. 114, moving in 1986 to the space previously occupied by Gerde's Folk City. A photo by Jerry Yulsman of Jack Kerouac in front of its neon "Bar" sign was used in a black-and-white version and, with Joyce Johnson removed from the image, in an advertisement for the clothing retailer The Gap. *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

had his first New York City gig at

Cafe Wha? Cafe Wha? is a music club at the corner of MacDougal Street and Minetta Lane in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The club is important in the history of rock and folk music, having presented numerous musicians an ...

at No. 115. This is also where Jimi Hendrix played some early gigs. * No. 116 used to be The Gaslight Cafe, where Ray Bremser,

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. The author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, an ...

, LeRoi Jones, Jack Kerouac,

Dave Van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Ma ...

and many others read poetry. Bob Dylan lived there for a time. * The

Comedy Cellar The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York comedians perform. It is widely considered to be the best comedy club in the United States. It was founded in 1982 by then stand-up comedian, and current television writer/ ...

at No. 117 has featured nearly every notable American comedian. *

Caffe Reggio Caffe Reggio is a New York City coffeehouse first opened in 1927 at 119 Macdougal Street in the heart of Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Italian cappuccino was introduced in America by the founder of Caffe Reggio, Domenico Parisi, in the early 1920 ...

, at No. 119, a coffeehouse since 1927, has been featured in many movies including ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

''. Many celebrities have been spotted or photographed in this location. In 1959 presidential hopeful

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

made a speech outside the coffee shop. *No. 127–131 between West 3rd and 4th Streets were built c.1828–29 as residences in the Federal style. All three had been converted to commercial use by the 1920s, and were designated New York City landmarks in 2004. * No. 129 is La Lanterna di Vittorio, an Italian pizzeria/cafe with a jazz venue in the basement known as the "Bar Next Door". No. 129 was also in 1925 the address of the lesbian bar "

Eve's Hangout Eve's Hangout was a New York City lesbian nightclub established by Polish feminist Eva Kotchever in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, in 1925. The establishment was also known as "Eve Adams' Tearoom", a pun on the names Eve and Adam. History ...

" or "Eve Addams's Tearoom", owned by Polish-born and Parisian writer Eva Kotchever, murdered in Auschwitz in 1943. The city of Paris pays tribute to her by naming a street, rue Eva-Kotchever, and a school in the neighbourhood she lived after the closure by police of her bar for "obscenity". * Louisa May Alcott lived in her uncle's home at Nos. 130–132. * The upstairs of No. 137 was the home of the Liberal Club during the 1910s. Members included such notable intellectuals as:

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...

, Emma Goldman,

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

, Margaret Sanger,

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...

and

Lincoln Steffens Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...

. * No. 146 was once a Caribbean restaurant frequented by James Baldwin,

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...

, Marlon Brando, Eartha Kitt and

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

. *The Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist, at No. 171 between Washington Square North and East 8th Street was built in 1891 as a factory and store, and was designed by Renwick, Aspinwall and Russell. It was converted into a church in the modern style in 1966–67 by Victor Christ-Janer. * The corner of West 8th Street and MacDougal, at 32 West 8th Street, is the former location of 8th Street Books, where Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg first met. Other notable residents include

Francesco Carrozzini Francesco Carrozzini (born September 9, 1982) is an Italian-born director and photographer based in the United States. In 2016, he made his feature directorial debut at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival with the documentary '' Franca: ...

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various art ...

, Diego Della Valle, John Hammond Jr.,

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

, Pat Steir.

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...

bought a townhouse in the 1960s for his daughter Mary. Washington Square * No. 27 is the former residence of

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994) ...

and

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

. *

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

lived at No. 29 after the death of President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. *

lived at the corner of MacDougal and Washington Square South at No. 38 Washington Square. MacDougal Alley *

lived in apartment No. 9 in MacDougal Alley. * The Czech-American sculptor

Albin Polasek Albin Polasek (February 14, 1879 – May 19, 1965) was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than 400 works during his career, 200 of which are displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Flori ...

rented space at 9 MacDougal Alley from 1914 until 1916. * The artist

James McBey James McBey (23 December 1883 – 1 December 1959) was a largely self-taught artist and etcher whose prints were highly valued during the later stages of the etching revival in the early 20th century. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Lett ...

took a photograph of 11 MacDougal Alley in the 1890s.

In media

*In 1954 Jack Kerouac wrote the poem "MacDougal Street Blues". *American folk singer

was nicknamed "

The Mayor of MacDougal Street ''The Mayor of MacDougal Street: Rarities 1957-1969'' is a compilation album by American folksinger Dave Van Ronk, released in 2005. History ''The Mayor of MacDougal Street'' contains previously unreleased songs and is presented in chronological ...

", and a posthumous compilation album and his biography by Elijah Wald were titled after this nickname. *The song " New York, New York", from the musical ''On the Town'', makes reference to the alley as being "in the heart of Green-Witch Village".

References

Sources * *

External links

"Positively 4th Street Revisited"
from '' Q'', May 1995, pp. 56, 57;
with images"The Beats Go on"
by Brian Niemietz, ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', January 13, 2007; article about The Beats in Greenwich Village, particularly about Macdougal Street nos. 93 (San Remo), 115 (

), 119 (

). *Mushett, Travis
"Street Writer: MacDougal Street"
''Blunderbuss Magazine'' {{Authority control Streets in Manhattan Greenwich Village SoHo, Manhattan