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Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...
of
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
. It borders the Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth to the north, Middle Village to the east, and Glendale to the southeast, as well as the
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
neighborhoods of
Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; the cemeteries of Highland Park to the southe ...
to the southwest and East Williamsburg to the west. Historically, the neighborhood straddled the Queens-Brooklyn boundary. The
etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
of Ridgewood's name is disputed, but it may have referred to Ridgewood Reservoir, the local geography, or a road. The British settled Ridgewood in the 17th century, while the Dutch settled nearby Bushwick. The adjacent settlements led to decades of disputes over the boundary, which later became the border between Queens and Brooklyn. Bushwick was developed rapidly in the 19th century, but Ridgewood remained sparsely populated until the early 20th century, when rowhouses were built for its rapidly growing, predominantly German population. Ridgewood has become more ethnically diverse since the mid-20th century. Large parts of the neighborhood are national and city historic districts. Ridgewood is patrolled by the
New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
's 104th Precinct. It is represented by the
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
's 30th District.


Etymology

The origin of the neighborhood's name is disputed. One theory is that it came from the Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park, in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
just south of Ridgewood. The reservoir was on a high ridge in the middle of the
Harbor Hill Moraine The Harbor Hill Moraine, in the geography of Long Island, forms the northern of two ridges along the "backbone" of Long Island. Description The Harbor Hill Moraine, skirting the North Shore, represents the terminal moraine of the most recent ...
, a
terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...
that runs the length of
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. Another possible etymology is the forests that covered the area before colonial settlement, and that early English settlers called the moraine the "ridge" of Long Island. Yet another possible etymology is "Ridge Road". The name was originally applied by the government of Kings County (now coextensive with Brooklyn), and referred to an area within Brooklyn along the border between Kings and Queens Counties. In the early 20th century, developers gave the area various names, including Germania Heights, St. James Park, Ridgewood Heights, Wyckoff Heights, and Knickerbocker Heights, but only "Ridgewood" gained enough popularity past the 1910s.


History


Early settlement

Ridgewood is adjacent to
Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg to the northwest; ...
, and the two neighborhoods have similar histories. Both were initially settled by the
Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...
Native Americans, specifically the Mespachtes tribe (for whom the adjacent neighborhood of Maspeth is named). In 1638, the
Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...
secured a deed from the Lenape; subsequently,
Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...
chartered present-day Bushwick in 1661 under the name ''Boswijck'', meaning "neighborhood in the woods" in 17th-century Dutch. Likewise, Ridgewood was part of Newtown, one of the three initial towns in Queens, and was settled by the British. In both neighborhoods, British and Dutch families tilled farms and grew crops for Brooklyn's and Manhattan's markets. Many of these farms also had slaves. The only known remaining Dutch farmhouse in the neighborhood is the Onderdonk House, which was erected in 1709. Also at the Onderdonk House site is Arbitration Rock, a marker for the disputed boundary between Bushwick and Newtown, and by extension Brooklyn and Queens (see ). The land remained rural through the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, though there may have been a burial ground in the area. Ridgewood's oldest streets are
Myrtle Avenue Myrtle Avenue is a street that runs from Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, in New York City, United States. Myrtle is a main thoroughfare through the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton ...
, Metropolitan Avenue, and Fresh Pond Road, which were used by farmers to take their goods to markets. Fresh Pond Road was formerly a Native American trail; the other roads were laid out as plank roads in the early to mid-19th century.


19th-century development

The development of public transportation, starting with horse-drawn cars in the mid-19th century and later succeeded by trolleys and elevated trains, helped to spur residential and retail development. The first transit line to arrive in the neighborhood was the Myrtle Avenue horsecar, which was extended to Brooklyn's Broadway in 1855. Following this, the Bay Ridge Branch opened in 1878, connecting to Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, and the Brooklyn shorefront via the Manhattan Beach Railroad. , June 2006 Edition The Myrtle Avenue elevated railroad, running above Myrtle Avenue within Brooklyn, was extended to the Queens border in 1889. An electric trolley line through Ridgewood, running to Lutheran Cemetery, was opened along a private right-of-way in 1894. Ten years later, the Myrtle Avenue Elevated was extended on a ground level alignment over that trolley line. The current elevated structure would be erected along the Lutheran Cemetery line's right-of-way in 1915. Simultaneously, northern Brooklyn was seeing an increase in the number of German immigrants. Many of the city's German immigrants had originally settled in Manhattan's Little Germany, located mostly within the East Village and
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
, in the mid-19th century. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, German immigrants had moved to other enclaves such as
Yorkville, Manhattan Yorkville is a neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Its southern boundary is East 79th Street (Manhattan), 79th Street, its northern East 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street, its western Third Avenue, ...
; Steinway, Queens; and the north Brooklyn/Ridgewood area. The discovery of freshwater under northern Brooklyn resulted in the development of
breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
, where many Germans worked. By 1880, there were 35 breweries in Brooklyn, including a 14-block "brewer's row" within Bushwick that contained at least 11 breweries. Factories and knitting mills were also opened within the communities, and speculative German developers built houses, consisting mostly of multi-family stock that were three or four stories tall. "Brewer's Row" had grown to 14 breweries by 1890.


20th-century development


Residential construction

Ridgewood remained rural until the unification of New York City's boroughs in 1898, even as Bushwick had become fully developed. Development in Ridgewood in the 19th century consisted mostly of picnicking locations, beer gardens, racetracks, and amusement areas for the residents of Bushwick. By the end of the century, developers had bought these sites and started constructing rowhouses and tenements, usually two to three stories high. The Ridgewood Board of Trade, created in 1902, was organized to develop the streets and utilities, and to improve the transit infrastructure. Much of the housing stock was erected between 1905 and 1915. Most of the houses built before 1905 were wood-frame houses; that year, a zoning ordinance was passed, requiring new buildings to be made of masonry. The area was developed more quickly after the
Queensboro Bridge The Queensboro Bridge, officially the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens with the Midtown Manhattan ...
opened in 1909, connecting Queens to
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. According to a 1909 issue of the ''Real Estate Record and Guide'', development was concentrated in a 150-block area around East Williamsburg in Brooklyn, namely the present-day area of Ridgewood. More than five thousand buildings were built from the beginning of the 20th century to
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
's start in the mid-1910s. Residential construction predominated in the southern part of Ridgewood while industrial factories and mills were prevalent in the northern section, near
Newtown Creek Newtown Creek, a long tributary of the East River, is an estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City. River engineering#Channelization, Channelization made it one of the most heavily-use ...
. Construction slowed down during World War I, but resumed shortly after the war's end, and by the 1930s the last farmland in Ridgewood had been developed. Some of the later houses were single-family homes with garages. Two of the more drastic changes to Ridgewood's character in the 1920s were the implementation of a street numbering system across Queens in 1925, followed by the opening of the Canarsie subway on the neighborhood's southern border in 1928.


Ethnic changes

Ridgewood was among New York City's most quickly-developing neighborhoods between at least 1906 and 1911. Much of the new housing was originally settled by Germans, who had mostly moved from other neighborhoods such as Williamsburg. To the German newcomers, the modern and more expansive houses in Ridgewood provided an improvement over the cramped housing stock in their former neighborhoods. A 1913 ''Real Estate Record'' article stated that, for several years, Germans had been moving to Ridgewood from the city's other boroughs. Figures from the
1910 United States Census The 1910 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 census ...
indicated that much of Ridgewood's population was working-class and of German or Eastern European descent, and many homes were owner-occupied. Ridgewood's German population was so large that the Ridgewood Times' first issue in 1908 was published in both English and German. After World War I, the population expanded with an influx of
Gottscheers Gottscheers (, , ) are the German settlers of the Kočevje, Kočevje region (a.k.a. Gottschee) of Slovenia, formerly Gottschee, Gottschee County. Until the World War II, Second World War, their main language of communication was Gottscheerish, a ...
, an ethnic German population from
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
who were dislocated in the aftermath of World War I, and spoke the
Gottscheerish Gottscheerish (''Göttscheabarisch'',Maridi Tscherne: Wörterbuch Gottscheerisch-Slowenisch. Einrichtung für die Erhaltung des Kulturerbes Nesseltal, Koprivnik/Nesseltal 2010. , ) is an Upper German dialect which was the main language of c ...
dialect. Other Eastern Europeans came as well. As recorded in the 1920 United States Census, the population of Ridgewood was mostly working-class homeowners from Germany, Austria, or Italy, with a smaller population from Hungary, Ireland, Poland, and Sweden. The demographic figures remained relatively unchanged through the
1930 United States Census The 1930 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during t ...
. The large German presence led to disputes following the rise of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, and a large, 9,000-person boycott of Nazi Germany in April 1934 resulted in brawls between Nazi sympathizers and about 200 Communists, members of the Anti-Fascist League of Brooklyn, as well as several hundred members of the Blue Shirt Minutemen of Brownsville and members of the Jewish War Veterans League. Still, in the 1939 WPA Guide to New York City, workers for the
Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...
described Ridgewood and Bushwick as "old-fashioned and respectable", and said that Ridgewood "rivals Manhattan's Yorkville as a German center." By the
1940 United States Census The 1940 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.6 percent over the 1930 United States Census, 1930 population ...
, Southern Europeans were also recorded as having moved into Ridgewood. In the mid-20th century,
Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...
,
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
, and
Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...
arrived. By the late 20th century,
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
,
Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...
, and
Ecuadorians Ecuadorians () are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...
—including a significant population of Quechua-speaking Amerindians from the Imbabura and Cañar provinces of
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
—had moved to Ridgewood. Other large populations included Yugoslavians, Chinese,
Koreans Koreans are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. The majority of Koreans live in the two Korean sovereign states of North and South Korea, which are collectively referred to as Korea. As of 2021, an estimated 7.3 m ...
, and
Slovenians The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...
.


Late 20th century

Originally, Ridgewood and Glendale shared ZIP Code 11227 with Bushwick. Following the 1977 blackout, the communities of Ridgewood and Glendale expressed a desire to disassociate themselves from Bushwick. Residents voted on a proposal to create a new ZIP Code, and a majority of votes were cast in favor of the proposal. The communities were given the ZIP Code 11385 in 1980. By the mid-1980s, parts of Ridgewood had been given federal landmark designations. Young professionals were also moving to the neighborhood in large numbers, and Ridgewood's homeownership rates increased.


Demographics

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Ridgewood was 69,317, a decrease of 138 (0.2%) from the 69,455 counted in
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
, Population Division –
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 39.8% (27,558)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.0% (1,380)
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.1% (93) Native American, 7.7% (5,331) Asian, 0.0% (19)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.3% (204) from other races, and 1.1% (765) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 49.0% (33,967) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
, Population Division –
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
The entirety of Community Board 5, which comprises Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Glendale, had 166,924 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.4 years. This is about equal to the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 22% are between the ages of 0–17, 31% between 25 and 44, and 26% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 13% respectively. As of 2017, the median
household income Household income is a measure of income received by the household sector. It includes every form of cash income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, investment income and cash transfers from the government. It may include near-cash gover ...
in Community Board 5 was $71,234. In 2018, an estimated 19% of Ridgewood and Maspeth residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in seventeen residents (6%) were unemployed, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 46% in Ridgewood and Maspeth, lower than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Glendale are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not
gentrifying Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been us ...
.


Land use and terrain

Ridgewood is zoned for various land uses, but is mostly commercial along main streets and residential alongside streets. Large parts of the neighborhood are residential historic districts. In addition, the large Cemetery Belt is located directly to the south. The majority of the neighborhood covers a large hill, part of the
glacial moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris ( regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice s ...
that created
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, which starts at Metropolitan Avenue, rises steeply for about two blocks, then slopes down gently. For instance, at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish on 60th Place, the front entrance of the church is almost level with the second floor of the Parish school next door. Part of Ridgewood around the Linden Hill Cemetery, centered around Flushing and Metropolitan Avenues, was once known as Linden Hill, distinct from the neighborhood of Linden Hill in
Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...
. Linden Street is named after this subsection of Ridgewood.


Residential

Ridgewood is a densely settled neighborhood, with housing stock ranging from six-family buildings near the Brooklyn border to two-family and single-family
row house A terrace, terraced house (British English, UK), or townhouse (American English, US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses party wall, sharing side walls. In the United States ...
s deeper into Queens. Ridgewood is visually distinguished by the large amount of yellow face brick construction, which is characteristic of the early-20th-century rowhouses built in the neighborhoods. Most of Ridgewood was developed block-by-block around the turn of the 20th century. Most of the buildings were designed by local architect Louis Berger & Co., which designed more than 5,000 buildings in the area. The neighborhood has been largely untouched by construction since then, leaving many centrally planned blocks of houses and tenements still in the same state as their construction. These blocks include the Mathews Flats (six-family cold water tenements), Ring-Gibson Houses (two- and four-family houses with stores), and Stier Houses (curved two-family rowhouses). Many of these houses are well-kept and retain much of their early 20th century appeal.


Commercial

There are low-density commercial districts along Myrtle, Forest, and Metropolitan Avenues and Fresh Pond Road. Ridgewood is home to Ridgewood Savings Bank, the largest mutual savings bank in
New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
. Their headquarters is located at the intersection of Myrtle and Forest Avenues and was built in 1929. The building architects were Halsey, McCormack and Helmer, Inc. and the general contractors were Stamarith Construction Corporation. The building's exterior is made of limestone and contains an eight-foot granite base. The interior has
travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...
walls and marble floors.


Landmarks


Historic districts

In Ridgewood 10 national
historic districts A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from ce ...
were listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1983. * 68th Avenue-64th Place Historic District * Central Ridgewood Historic District * Cornelia-Putnam Historic District * Cypress Avenue East Historic District * Cypress Avenue West Historic District * Fresh Pond-Traffic Historic District * Madison-Putnam-60th Place Historic District * Seneca Avenue East Historic District * Stockholm-DeKalb-Hart Historic District * Summerfield Street Row Historic District In addition, the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...
has designated four landmark districts in Ridgewood: *Stockholm Street Historic District, designated 2000. This historic district consists of 36 two-story brick rowhouses, two garages, and a stable built primarily in 1907-1910 by Joseph Weiss & Company along Stockholm Street, the only remaining brick street in Ridgewood. *Ridgewood North Historic District, designated 2009. This historic district includes 96 buildings, mostly three-story brick rowhouses called "Mathews Model Flats", built in 1908-1914 by the G.X. Mathews Company. *Ridgewood South Historic District, designated 2010. This historic district includes 210 buildings, a large collection of three-story brick rowhouses as well as the St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church, built in 1911-1912 by the G.X. Mathews Company. *Central Ridgewood Historic District, designated 2014. This historic district includes 990 buildings, mostly brick rowhouses, constructed in 1906-1915 by various small builders.


Individual landmarks

There are two individual city-designated landmarks: *The Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, built in the mid-to-late 18th century and designated in 1995. The house was a crucial point in the 1769 survey that established the Kings–Queens county border. *The Ridgewood Theater Building was built 1916 and designated in 2010. The 1,950 seat William Fox moviehouse operated until 2008 and is now a Blink Fitness. The Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, the Evergreens Cemetery, and St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church Complex are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


Police and crime

Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Glendale are patrolled by the 104th Precinct of the
NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
, located at 64-02 Catalpa Avenue. The 104th Precinct ranked 21st safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. However, the precinct covers a large diamond-shaped area, and Maspeth and Middle Village are generally seen as safer than Ridgewood. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 19 per 100,000 people, Ridgewood and Maspeth's rate of
violent crime A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful Force (law), force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, vio ...
s per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 235 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 104th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 87.4% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 2 murders, 17 rapes, 140 robberies, 168 felony assaults, 214 burglaries, 531 grand larcenies, and 123 grand larcenies auto in 2018.


Fire safety

Ridgewood contains a
New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fi ...
(FDNY) fire station, Engine Co. 291/Ladder Co. 140, at 56-07 Metropolitan Avenue.


Health

,
preterm birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the Childbirth, birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks Gestational age (obstetrics), gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 ...
s and births to teenage mothers are less common in Ridgewood and Maspeth than in other places citywide. In Ridgewood and Maspeth, there were 70 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 17.6 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Ridgewood and Maspeth have a low population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 13%, slightly higher than the citywide rate of 12%. The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of
air pollutant Air pollution is the presence of substances in the air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be gases like ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles like soot and dust. It affects both outdoor ...
, in Ridgewood and Maspeth is , more than the city average. Twenty percent of Ridgewood and Maspeth residents are smokers, which is higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Ridgewood and Maspeth, 19% of residents are
obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...
, 7% are
diabetic Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
, and 20% have
high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...
—compared to the citywide averages of 22%, 8%, and 23% respectively. In addition, 19% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Ninety-two percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 78% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", equal to the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Ridgewood and Maspeth, there are 5 bodegas. The nearest major hospitals are
Elmhurst Hospital Center Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, is a 545-bed public hospital in the Elmhurst, Queens, Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. It is one of the 11 acute care hospitals of NYC Health + Hospi ...
in Elmhurst and the
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Wyckoff Heights Medical Center is a 350-bed teaching and safety net hospital located in the Wyckoff Heights section of Bushwick, Brooklyn. The hospital is an academic affiliate of the Weill Cornell College of Medicine, the New York Medical Col ...
in Bushwick.


Post offices and ZIP Code

Ridgewood is covered by ZIP Code 11385, which it shares with neighboring Glendale. The
United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...
operates three post offices nearby: *Fresh Pond Station – 60-80 Woodbine Street *Ridgewood Station – 60-60 Myrtle Avenue *Wyckoff Heights Station – 86 Wyckoff Avenue


Border with Bushwick

Today, Ridgewood's land area lies within Queens County. However, its political boundary with Brooklyn causes confusion and debate about where the western boundary of Ridgewood truly lies and whether part of Ridgewood is considered to be actually part of Brooklyn. The political dispute dates to the 17th century, when Newtown was under English rule and Boswijck was under Dutch rule. Disputes over the boundary between the two settlements continued until 1769, when a boundary line was drawn through what later became known as the Arbitration Rock. The street
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
in Ridgewood and Bushwick was laid out in the late 19th century. Because the Arbitration Rock lay along a diagonal with this grid plan, numerous houses were built on the Brooklyn-Queens boundary, their owners sometimes subject to taxes from both counties. During the 19th century, this resulted in situations where some houses received water and fire protection from what was then the city of Brooklyn, while their neighbors in Queens had to rely on volunteer firefighting squads and paid exorbitant water bills to private utilities in Elmhurst. In 1925, the political boundary was adapted to the street grid, resulting in a zig-zag pattern. The change resulted in 2,543 persons' addresses being reassigned from Queens to Brooklyn, and 135 persons' addresses reassigned from Brooklyn to Queens. Modern addresses in the two boroughs can be distinguished by the presence or absence of a hyphen in the house number. Queens's
house numbering House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a Address (geography), postal address. The ter ...
system uses a hyphen between the closest cross-street (which comes before the hyphen) and the actual address (which comes after the hyphen). While buildings fronting on streets that are west of Forest Avenue and the Bay Ridge Branch follow the Queens address numbering system, the avenues which run parallel to the county line—bounded by Metropolitan Avenue to the north, Forest Avenue to the east, and the Brooklyn border to the south—do not follow this address numbering system. Streets in this area that run perpendicular to the county line are demarcated by a jump in numbering sequence between the two boroughs.


ZIP Code changes

Since at least 1898, when the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens were created as part of the
City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the Merger (politics), consolidation of the New York City, City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island, which took effect on January 1, 1898. New York had already annexed the Bronx ...
, Glendale and Ridgewood's postal mail had been routed through the main Brooklyn post office in Williamsburg, rather than the main post office in Flushing, because they are located closer to Williamsburg. When ZIP Codes were assigned in 1963, the neighborhoods were assigned Brooklyn ZIP Codes with the 112 prefix, along with all areas whose mail was routed through a Brooklyn post office. This gave Glendale and Ridgewood a Brooklyn mailing address despite actually being located in Queens. The neighborhoods' ZIP Code of 11227 was shared with
Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg to the northwest; ...
, as well as with Wyckoff Heights on the border of the two boroughs. After the 1977 New York City blackout, newspapers around the country published
UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
and ''
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
'' photos of Bushwick residents with stolen items and a police officer beating a suspected looter, and Bushwick became known for riots and looting. Afterward, the communities of Ridgewood and Glendale expressed a desire to disassociate themselves from Bushwick. Following complaints from residents, Postmaster General William Bolger proposed that the ZIP Codes would be changed if
United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice presiden ...
could produce evidence that 70% of residents supported it. After Ferraro's office distributed ballots to residents, 93 percent of the returned ballots voted for the change. The change to ZIP Code 11385 was made effective January 13, 1980.


Newspaper

The '' Ridgewood Times'', established in 1908 and now known as the ''Times Newsweekly'', serves as the community
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
. It is published in English and was formerly published in German as well. The ''Ridgewood Post'' is an online version of the community newspaper. It is a part of the Queens Post group, a subsidiary of Outer Boro Media, which publishes seven local news sites in Queens and one in North Brooklyn.


Education

Ridgewood and Maspeth generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . While 33% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 16% have less than a high school education and 50% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Ridgewood and Maspeth students excelling in math rose from 36% in 2000 to 67% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 42% to 49% during the same time period. Ridgewood and Maspeth's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Ridgewood and Maspeth, 14% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per
school year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classes and do rel ...
, lower than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 82% of high school students in Ridgewood and Maspeth graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.


Schools

Ridgewood's public schools are operated by the
New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...
. Ridgewood contains the following public elementary schools, which serve grades PK-5 unless otherwise indicated: *PS 68 *PS 71 *PS 81 *PS 88 *PS 239 *PS 305 (PK-3) The following middle schools are located in Ridgewood: *IS 77 *IS 93 Grover Cleveland High School is the only high school in Ridgewood, and is the zoned public high school to most of Ridgewood. There are two Catholic grammar schools located in the neighborhood. The first one is the Notre Dame Catholic Academy (formerly known as Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal School) located on Bleecker and 61st Streets. The second one is St. Matthias Catholic Academy located on Catalpa Avenue between Onderdonk and Woodward Avenues.


Libraries

The Queens Public Library's Ridgewood branch is located at 20-12 Madison Street. The
Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two Brooklyn Publ ...
's Washington Irving branch is located at 360 Irving Avenue near Woodbine Street, just across Ridgewood's border with Bushwick. The Queens and Brooklyn Public Libraries are separate library systems and are not interchangeable.


Transportation

The
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
's BMT Myrtle Avenue Line () runs through the heart of Ridgewood with stops at , , and . Additionally, the
Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues station The Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues station (announced on New Technology Trains as the Myrtle Avenue–Wyckoff Avenue station) is a New York City Subway metro station, station complex formed by the intersecting stations of the BMT Canarsie Line and the ...
, in the southern portion of Ridgewood, is a transportation hub serving the Myrtle Avenue Line, the
BMT Canarsie Line The BMT Canarsie Line (sometimes referred to as the 14th Street–Eastern Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division (New York City Subway), B Division of the New York City Subway system, named after its terminus in the Canarsie, Brooklyn, ...
(), and several buses. At the end of the Myrtle Avenue Line is the Fresh Pond Yard, a storage yard for the . Halsey Street () has entrances in both Ridgewood and Bushwick. The Ridgewood Terminal at the Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues station serves
New York City Bus MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service ( bus rapid transit) services across the city ...
' lines. The bus lines also serve Ridgewood. In addition, the neighborhood is home to the large Fresh Pond Bus Depot, which services many of the buses that run throughout Brooklyn and Queens.


Parks and recreation

The Ridgewood Park baseball ground, built on land owned by William Wallace, was part of a larger entertainment area bounded by Wyckoff Avenue, Covert Street, Halsey Street, and Irving Avenue. From 1886 to 1889, it was home to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (later the Brooklyn Dodgers and now the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
) for their Sunday games. The property continued to operate until 1959. Another similarly named site, called Grauer's Ridgewood Park, was located between
Myrtle Avenue Myrtle Avenue is a street that runs from Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, in New York City, United States. Myrtle is a main thoroughfare through the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton ...
, Cypress Avenue, Seneca Avenue, and Decatur Street, and was used mainly as a picnic site. Mafera Park, named after former Queens borough president Joseph F. Mafera, is located south of the Fresh Pond Junction, between the Myrtle Avenue elevated line to the west and the Bay Ridge Branch to the east.


Notable people

Notable current and former residents of Ridgewood include: * Pedro Beato (born 1986), pitcher who played for the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
*
James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...
(1899–1986), actor * Peter Daempfle (born 1970), author * Chris Distefano (born 1984), comedian *
Joe Duplantier Joseph Andrew Duplantier (born 19 October 1976) is a French-American musician, best-known as the vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and lyricist of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Gojira (band), Gojira. He is also a record-producer and environmenta ...
(born 1976), French-American musician and producer, owner of Silver Cord Studio (Rockwall studios complex on the Halsey stop) *
Ron Eldard Ronald Jason Eldard is an American actor. Early life Eldard was born on Long Island, New York. He is the sixth of seven children, and has four sisters and two brothers. He is of Irish and Scottish descent. Eldard's mother died in a car accident w ...
(born 1965), actor * Philip Giaccone (1932–1981), Bonanno crime family capo * Nick Hakim (born 1992), singer-songwriter *
Mitski Mitsuki Laycock (born September 27, 1990), also known as Mitski Miyawaki, and known professionally as Mitski, is an American singer-songwriter. She Self-publishing, self-released her first two albums, ''Lush (Mitski album), Lush'' (2012), and '' ...
(born 1990), singer-songwriter *
Jeannie Ortega Jeannette "Jeannie" Ortega (born November 19, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, writer, and journalist. She made her recording debut in 2006 with the album ''No Place Like BKLYN'' at the age of 19. The album featured the single "C ...
(born 1986), recording artist, songwriter, actress * Rosie Perez (born 1964), actress (attended school in Ridgewood) * Tommy Ramone (1949–2014), musician, original member of the
Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...
* Katie Sandwina (1884–1952), circus strongwoman and one time "Strongest Woman in the World" opened a restaurant at 70–02 Cypress Hills Street in 1942 * Dan Schneider (born 1965), poet and critic *
Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmi ...
(1950–2020), avant-garde musician (
Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, later joined by Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of in ...
,
Psychic TV Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental music, experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson (musician), Alex ...
) * Bob Sheppard (1910–2010), public address announcer for the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
and
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
* Gus Van (1886–1968), singer and vaudeville star, part of the team of Van & Schenck * Reginald VelJohnson (born 1952), actor *
John Ventimiglia John Ventimiglia (, ; born ) is an American actor. He portrayed Artie Bucco in the HBO television series ''The Sopranos'' and had a recurring role as Dino Arbogast, an Organized Crime Control Bureau Chief for the NYPD, on the American police pr ...
(born 1963), actor who played
Artie Bucco This is a list of characters from the HBO series ''The Sopranos'', and its prequel film '' The Many Saints of Newark.'' Main characters Cast table Main character biographies Tony Soprano Jennifer Melfi Carmela Soprano Christopher Moltisant ...
on ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
'' * John Wilson (born 1986), documentary filmmaker


In popular culture

*
Parquet Courts Parquet Courts is an American rock music, rock band from New York City. The band consists of Andrew Savage (artist), Andrew Savage (vocals, guitar), Austin Brown (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Sean Yeaton (bass, vocals), and Max Savage (drums). H ...
' 2013 song "Stoned and Starving" includes the lyric "I was walking through Ridgewood, Queens". *The 2016 feature film White Girl is set in Ridgewood.


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * *


Further reading

* * * {{Authority control Neighborhoods in Queens, New York Albanian-American culture in New York City Polish-American culture in New York City Serbian-American culture