Village folk clubs repeatedly ran afoul of license and fire regulations.

Evidence

Mitchell, recalled by Van Ronk as “the world’s foremost maniac” and “a magnet for trouble,” not to mention “one of the least diplomatic men on earth,” received three summonses, including one for operating a cabaret without a license. Meanwhile, identical violations were issued to the Commons. Later known as the Fat Black Pussycat, the Commons had opened, like the Gaslight, in 1959 and served Mitchell as an alternative base of operations during the summer of 1960 when the fire department shut down the Gaslight, presumably to allow him to install the leaky sprinkler system that Van Ronk thought added to the steam bath ambience. — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 281