WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 17, 2019 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Huge fi re made headlines in sweltering summer of ‘77
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
The summer of 1977 proved to be
one of the bleakest times in New
York City’s history.
The Son of Sam serial killer terrorized
residents. The city’s infrastructure
crumbled before everyone’s eyes.
City Hall found itself teetering on the
edge of bankruptcy. A massive blackout
that plunged the fi ve boroughs
into darkness on July 14, 1977, led
to a looting and arson rampage that
made many wonder if the city would
self-destruct before the decade ended.
Indeed, urban decay during this
period ravaged the Brooklyn neighborhood
of Bushwick, Ridgewood’s
next-door neighbor. The community
suff ered from acts of arson that destroyed
block aft er block of multi-family
apartment houses. In some cases,
building owners had their properties
burned down to collect on insurance
money, as rents and real estate values
diminished.
But in other instances, individuals
(apparently with nothing better to
do) would target long-abandoned
structures and set them ablaze. That’s
what happened on July 18, 1977, when
youths allegedly set fi re to an abandoned
knitting mill at the corner of
Knickerbocker Avenue and Bleecker
Street — and the fl ames spread across
seven full blocks of the community.
Firefi ghters called it the “all-hands
fire,” a term typically used for a
small, containable blaze. In reality,
this “all-hands fi re” was more literal;
hundreds of fi refi ghters from across
Brooklyn and Queens — almost every
available unit — were called to fi ght
the massive inferno.
“While the rest of the city sweltered
in 100-degree temperatures, the
heat at the fi re scene was so intense
that it melted the glass windows of
a fi retruck and caused fi remen to
collapse from heat exhaustion,” the
Ridgewood Times reported on its July
21, 1977, front page.
In the end, the Bushwick blaze
injured 50 people, including 40
fi refi ghters. Among the structures
“severely damaged,” as the Ridgewood
Times reported, was Schwaben Hall.
The structure had been opened in
1899 by German immigrants “and
served for all meetings and concerts”
of the Schwaebischer Saengerbund
Chorus.
“The last concert held in Schwaben
Hall was in 1966,” the Ridgewood
Times reported.
Three youths were charged with
setting the blaze, as reported. One
of the arrested suspects was just 12
years old. They were charged with
arson, felonious assault and reckless
endangerment.
The Bushwick “all-hands fire”
proved to be a turning point for the
community, as it brought public
attention to “the agony of Bushwick.”
Mayor Abe Beame, then in the throes
of a diffi cult re-election campaign,
visited the fi re site. His rivals in the
Democratic primary that year — Mario
Cuomo and Ed Koch, who would
ultimately win the mayoral race —
campaigned to bring about improvements
in Bushwick and other blighted
neighborhoods across the city.
Those improvements, to some
observers, planted the seeds for the
revival of Bushwick which would
occur decades later.
While the “all-hands fi re” dominated
the headlines in the July 21, 1977,
Ridgewood Times, there were, of
course, other stories to be told.
The front page also featured a
troubling story on the impending
demise of the Bohack supermarket
chain. Based in Ridgewood, Bohack
had been one of the most successful
grocery store chains in the city, but
slowly faded into history during the
1970s.
“The majority of the markets in the
chain closed their doors last Saturday
July 16,” the Times reported. “Inventory
unsold aft er last week’s 25%-off
sale was centralized in the chain’s
larger stores. There, goods are being
sold at 40%-off in contemplation of
bankruptcy next week.”
Bohack had filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection in 1974, but
by the summer of 1977, needed a $5
million loan to survive — that never
came.
“Some 1,300 employees were aff ected
by the closings,” the Times reported. A
supermarket industry spokesperson
told the paper that “supermarkets in
general have been hurt by an end to
the building boom with its supermarket
in every shopping center. Instead,
it fi nds a fast-food chain near every
supermarket, and people spending
one out of every three dollars for
meals away from home.”
Inside the July 21, 1977, Ridgewood
Times, readers could fi nd plenty of
advertisers offering bargains on
everything they need for their home.
Dorter Rug Shop, at 56-52 Myrtle Ave.
in Ridgewood, had a “super broadloom
clearance sale” with broadloom
items reduce to as low as $4.95 and up.
Montoro Shoes Inc., at 66-29 Fresh
Pond Rd. in Ridgewood, off ered men’s
Bostonian and Verdi shoes and boots
for $17.99 and $23.99, respectively.
They also had their entire stock of
spring and summer women’s shoes
for $7.99 a pair.
Pellegrini’s restaurant, at 66-86
Fresh Pond Rd., advertised their
“singles dance” open to adults 28 and
over every Wednesday night from
8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. For a $3 admission
(before 9 p.m.), customers could enjoy
a free drink and receive door prizes.
In the real estate section, one
private home seller in Ridgewood
listed a two-family home near Fresh
Pond Road for just $44,000. Calbo
Real Estate, at 55-32 Myrtle Ave. in
Ridgewood, advertised several homes
for sale and rent. One Middle Village
bungalow went for just $48,500,
and a four-family stone and brick
apartment house in Ridgewood was
on the market for $54,000. Rents for a
four-room apartment in Glendale went
for $175 a month, while a four-room
Ridgewood apartment went for $150
a month.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would like to
share with our readers, please write to
the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-
15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send
an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.
com. Any print photographs mailed to
us will be carefully returned to you upon
request.
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