MacDougal Street is a one-way street in theGreenwich Village andSoHo neighborhoods ofManhattan,New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north byWest 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. BetweenWaverly Place andWest 3rd Street it carries the nameWashington 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.[1] Traffic on the street runs southbound (downtown).
MacDougal Street is named forAlexander McDougall, a merchant andRevolutionary War military leader. MacDougall is also the namesake ofMacDougal Alley, a privatecul-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".[2] It has been the subject of many songs, poems, and other forms of artistic expression, and has been frequented by numerous famous individuals.
No. 59 was the location ofAvignone 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[3] by theGreenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation in 2013.
Bob Dylan bought an apartment in 1969 atNo. 94.[7]
No. 99 was home of99 Records, a progressive music and fashion store owned by Gina Franklin andEd Bahlman. 99 Records released 1980's club hits byLiquid Liquid,ESG, and theBush Tetras, among several others.
The barKettle of Fish opened in 1950 atNo. 114, moving in 1986 to the space previously occupied byGerde's Folk City.[8] A photo byJerry Yulsman of Jack Kerouac in front of its neon "Bar" sign was used in a black-and-white version and, withJoyce Johnson removed from the image, in an advertisement for the clothing retailerThe Gap.
TheComedy Cellar atNo. 117 has featured nearly every notable American comedian.
Caffe Reggio, atNo. 119, a coffeehouse since 1927, has been featured in many movies includingThe Godfather Part II. Many celebrities have been spotted or photographed in this location. In 1959 presidential hopefulJohn F. Kennedy made a speech outside the coffee shop.
No. 129 isLa Lanterna di Vittorio, an Italian pizzeria/cafe with a jazz venue in the basement known as the "Bar Next Door".[10]No. 129 was also in 1925 the address of the lesbian bar "Eve's Hangout"[11] or "Eve Addams's Tearoom",[12] owned by Polish-born and Parisian writerEva Kotchever, murdered inAuschwitz 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".[13]
The corner ofWest 8th Street and MacDougal, at32 West 8th Street, is the former location of 8th Street Books, where Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg first met.[6]
^Numbering in the streets around Washington Square Park begins at #1 in the northeast corner on Washington Square North (Waverly Place) and proceeds counter-clockwise to #87 on Washington Square EastUniversity Place.
