QUEENS — The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated a 990-building portion of Queens as the Central Ridgewood Historic District, officials said.
The district, bounded roughly by Woodbine Street and 71st Avenue as well as Fresh Pond Road and Forest Avenue, consists mostly of brick row houses, built by German-Americans and German immigrants between 1906 and World War I, according to the LPC.
Nearly half of the houses in that district were built by developer Paul Stier, whom the LPC called “Ridgewood’s most prolific builder.”
In total, Stier built more than 2,000 houses in the Ridgewood-Bushwick area.
The Central Ridgewood Historic District features buildings mostly in the Renaissance Revival style, according to the LPC.
Many of the buildings' original elements, including stoops, cut-glass and wood doors and iron gates, have remained unchanged since the houses were built about 100 years ago, officials said.
The area, the LPC said, “represents one of the most harmonious and architecturally-distinguished enclaves of working-class dwellings built in New York City during the early twentieth century.”
Meenakshi Srinivasan, chair of the LPC, said in a statement that “the buildings in this district were a significant upgrade from earlier tenements, and served as a model for affordable housing at a time when New York City’s population was growing rapidly.”
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who represents the area, said in a statement that “preserving historically significant neighborhoods is important for today's New Yorkers, and for future generations, to understand their cultural heritage.”
“The Central Ridgewood Historic District is unique for its harmonious 19th century brick homes — some with bow fronts, some with porches, others with steep stoops along tree lined streets,” Crowley said.
It’s the third historic district in the neighborhood. Previously, the city also designated the Ridgewood South and Ridgewood North Historic Districts, according to the LPC.
