Bob Dylan's (no, not the cat of the same name from Bay Ridge) New York....

In the Sunday Hartford Courant

As the rocker turns 70, you can follow his footsteps on your own walking tour of Manhattan 

NEW YORK—Here's a wake-up call for baby boomers: Bob Dylan, once an icon of youthful rebellion, will turn 70 in May. The times they most certainly have changed since he first arrived in Manhattan from Minnesota on a snowy day in January 1961.  Dylan performed and stayed at various places throughout Manhattan in his long career, from small coffeehouses to Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden. But it was in Greenwich Village, with its plethora of folk clubs, bars and coffeehouses, that he spent most of his time, especially in the early years when he was being hailed (much to his chagrin) as the spokesman of his generation.  Moving among his old haunts, you can create your own walking tour in one of Manhattan's legendary neighborhoods.

MacDougal and Bleecker streets

Some of the venues where he played and the buildings associated with him during his Village heyday are gone, but there are enough physical reminders of him still here for a Dylan enthusiast to spend hours searching for the ghosts of Dylan past.  A good place to start is at the corner of MacDougal and Bleecker streets. From this starting point, Dylan pilgrims have numerous options. It was on MacDougal where Dylan played his first coffeehouse gig at Cafe Wha? (115 MacDougal) before performing at the subterranean Gaslight Cafe (soon to open again as an artists' hangout called 116, at 116 MacDougal). In the height of the folk boom, Washington Square Park, a short hike from MacDougal, hosted Sunday afternoon gatherings where Dylan and others would come to listen to music.  Several of the coffeehouses that were around when Dylan first came to the Village are still here too, such as cozy and laid-back Caffe Reggio (119 MacDougal). In nice weather it's the perfect place to sit outside, nursing a cappuccino while watching the Village scenery play out.  The old Village movie theater, the Waverly (323 Avenue of the Americas/Sixth Avenue), has been reconfigured into an upscale art house and renamed the IFC Center. There Dylan used to watch Kirk Douglas in "Lonely Are the Brave" and Andy Griffith in "A Face in the Crowd" (two of his favorite movies).  (more)

June Sawyers is the author of the forthcoming book "Bob Dylan New York," out May 11. ctc-travel@tribune.com


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