Report from the Ridgewood North Historic District Hearing
Reaosnably uneventful hearing – Good presentation by LPC, low turnout from public but considering the weather and the time of year, what can you expect? Paul Kerzner from Greater Ridgewood Property Owners, Theodore Renz from the Myrtle Avenue BID, the Society for the Architecure of the City, HDC (testimony below) and the NY Landmarks Conservancy spoke in favor and pretty much all agreed that this should be only the beginning of designation in Ridgewood. Council member-elect Liz Crowley was also on hand to testify in favor (and in favor of more properties), she takes office on January 1st. Council member Diana Reyna sent a letter of support, as did the Victorian Society & MAS. No one spoke in opposition.
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December 16, 2008
Statement of the Historic Districts Council
Regarding the Designation of the Proposed Ridgewood North Historic District
The Historic Districts Council is the citywide advocate for New York’s historic neighborhoods. HDC is pleased to strongly support the designation of this area as a New York City historic district.
The history of the development of Ridgewood is important for understanding the shape of our city. Responding to the opportunities created by new transit lines, the Mathews Company, founded and owned by immigrants, designed and produced a new model of apartment living to deal with the massive population surge of the early 20th century. Using local materials, the Mathews developed a new residential paradigm, which was wildly successful, both from a financial as well as an urban perspective. The distinctive visual continuity of the Kreischer bricks and consistent scale, coupled with modest, though distinctive, architectural details created a stable, welcoming environment well-suited for populations looking to physically establish their own enclaves. The humane touches and human scale further reinforce the importance of the street as a part of daily life. This particular urban form, the row house with a stoop, is ubiquitous throughout New York City but it is remarkable to see it expressed on such as scale in a new development such as Ridgewood, which seemingly sprung fully formed from open farmland. Indeed, had the environmental and preservation community been active at the time, doubtless there would have been some misgivings over the replacement of open space with (relatively) tightly packed houses. Nowadays however, in the midst of struggling with our own affordable housing crisis, we could do far worse than to look at the example of Ridgewood for a solution. In this neighborhood, almost one century after its founding, the houses still functionally serve their original purpose of providing attractive and desirable affordable housing for new populations of New Yorkers, albeit for New Yorkers from different countries of origin than those from a hundred years ago.
The Historic Districts Council commends the Landmarks Preservation Commission for bringing forward this neighborhood of working and middle class housing for consideration as a historic district. It’s interesting to reflect that the same years these buildings were being constructed, there were still spectacular mansions being built along Fifth Avenue for New York’s moneyed class. Ironically, most of those buildings are now gone, demolished in the race to the next new thing, and Ridgewood remains both with us and viable. It leads to some uncomfortable reflections about the residential developments going up today – both the luxury and the low-income. What will be left in a hundred years and what lessons might we learn from them?
HDC’s only concern with the designation of the Ridgewood North historic district is “why so small”? Almost 3,000 units of housing were developed in the area during this era, which work well together to create a truly distinct sense of place. The remarkably intact buildings have a grace and a rhythm which only grows as you begin to understand the vast number of them. Indeed, the area constitutes one of the largest collection of National Register-listed properties in New York State. What is the Landmarks Commission’s preservation plan for the neighborhood? A cherry-picked few blocks selected for protection just doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t reflect the importance of the development or even its reality. While there might be some gaps in the integrity of the area, as Ridgewood currently exists, it seems to break up into nodes or hubs of architectural density, and those should be protected at the very least. Going back to the Ridgewood Multiple Resource National Register listing would be a good starting place to appropriately map out the preservation of this remarkable neighborhood.
In conclusion, the Historic Districts Council strongly supports the landmark designation of the proposed Ridgewood North Historic District, and urges the Landmarks Commission to commit to the consideration of the designation of the remainder of historic Ridgewood.