Welcome to Ridgewood
Ridgewood, in the western part of Queens, is bordered by Bushwick, and East Williamsburg to the west, and Maspeth, Glendale and Middle Village to the east. The boundary between Bushwick, Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens has been fluid (and often hotly contested) since colonial times and the two neighborhoods once actually overlapped. Not anymore. Since 1980, Ridgewood has had its own post office and zip code. Ridgewood residents consider their neighborhood unique.
The garden of landmarked Vander Ende-Onderdonk House.
A Glimpse Into the Past
If you want to get a feel for what Ridgewood was like 300 years ago, visit the landmarked Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, a one-time farmhouse that sits on Flushing Avenue. Lovingly restored and cared for by a group of neighborhood volunteers, the well-tended gardens and grounds stand in startling contrast to the low-slung, anything-but-beautiful industrial buildings that have grown up around it. (Open Saturdays and Sundays and for events such as evening candlelight tours; advance booking required.)
A View of the Industrial Part of Ridgewood.
Most of Ridgewood was built in just a few years right around 1910, most of it on spec for the folks who worked at the breweries in what is now Bushwick.
Two-family brick houses with bay windows and stoops are typical in Ridgewood.
Rudy's, the last German bakery in Ridgewood.
A Glimpse of the Future
What lies ahead for Ridgewood? There is a very strong community push to preserve as much of the neighborhood as possible in order to maintain its early 20th century feel. Right now nearly 3,000 buildings have been designated as state and federal landmarks and it is possible that the number will grow with the addition of 500-700 commercial properties along Fresh Pond Road and Myrtle Avenue. They’re optimistic but say that the pandemic has slowed the application process down by about 18 months.
Myrtle Avenue, a major shopping thoroughfare in Ridgewood.
Arbitration Rock
Boundaries: Ridgewood, in the western part of Queens, is surrounded by Bushwick, and East Williamsburg on the west and Maspeth, Glendale and Middle Village on the East. Ridgewood’s border has been even more elastic and contested than those of most NYC neighborhoods.
A boulder that once was part of the Brooklyn-Queens border, known, appropriately, as Arbitration Rock, sits safely behind a white picket fence at the Onderdonk House. The boulder, excavated in 1999, supposedly dates back to 1769. When Brooklyn and Queens became part of New York City in 1898, the boulder lost some of its importance but remains as a tangible reminder of the neighborhood’s earliest history
Median Rent: $2,250, according to StreetEasy
Median Price: $1,200,000, according to StreetEasy.
