Fat Black Pussycat (formerly The Commons)

The Commons opened in 1958 as a small bohemian cafe on MacDougal Street near Minetta Lane in Greenwich Village, operating as one of the first 'basket houses' -- coffee shops where folk performers were paid from a passed basket of tips. It rebranded as the Fat Black Pussycat around 1960 and became a fixture of the Village's beat and folk scenes, hosting performers including Richie Havens, Tiny Tim, Mama Cass Elliot, and Shel Silverstein. It is widely credited as the place where Bob Dylan wrote 'Blowin' in the Wind' in April 1962.

The exact circumstances of the song's composition are somewhat contested. Folk singer David Blue claimed to have been sitting with Dylan at the cafe when Dylan began scribbling the song over cheap coffee. Dylan himself reportedly said he 'probably' wrote it there in about ten minutes, though the song likely evolved over a period of time before he debuted it publicly at Gerde's Folk City on April 16, 1962. Regardless of the precise details, the Fat Black Pussycat was woven into the fabric of the Village folk scene from which 'Blowin' in the Wind' emerged -- an era when MacDougal Street was the centre of the American folk revival.

The original space on MacDougal Street near Minetta Lane later became a Mexican restaurant. A venue currently operating as the Fat Black Pussycat exists at 130 West 3rd Street, but this is a separate establishment that adopted the historic name -- visitors seeking the historically significant Dylan-associated location should note the distinction. The building at MacDougal and Minetta Lane still stands in the heart of the Village.