The Gaslight Cafe was a coffee house located in the basement of 116 MacDougal Street, Greenwich Village, New York City The Gaslight was originally a "basket house" where unpaid performers would pass around a basket at the end of each set. Opened in 1958 by John Mitchell..., the dark, steamy, subterranean Gaslight had showcased beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso but later became a folk club.