38 JANUARY 20, 2022 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
More than just a political powerhouse in Ridgewood
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
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OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The Ridgewood Democratic Club is
just a little older than the Ridgewood
Times itself, having formed
in the same year, 1908. While the paper
fi rst went to press on Aug. 1, 1908, the
Ridgewood Democratic Club fi rst convened
in January of that year, 114 years
ago next month.
Through the century to follow, it
became the focal point for local politics
and helped advance the political careers
of many aspiring public servants. Some
of their names are recognizable today on
landmarks throughout the community.
When it was formed, the Ridgewood
Democratic Club began in the home of
Carl Berger, who lived at 300 St. Nicholas
Ave. He was selected as the club’s temporary
chairman, and the club began
rotating its meetings at various venues
in the community.
At the start, there were 60 members
of the Ridgewood Democratic Club. By
March 1908, they elected permanent
offi cials including Berger, who served
as its fi rst president.
By July 1908, the Ridgewood Democratic
Club’s membership grew to 350,
and they began leasing space at 448
Grove St. in July as their fi rst clubhouse.
Though they had negotiated a two-year
lease at the location, the club’s membership
continued expanding rapidly over
the next 18 months — forcing the club to
fi nd a larger location.
In January 1910, the Ridgewood
Democratic Club purchased a home at
267 St. Nicholas Ave., relocating there
that March. At that point, there were
450 members.
By today’s boundaries, 267 St. Nicholas
Ave. is located in Brooklyn, not Queens.
At that time, Ridgewood was split between
Brooklyn and Queens. Being so
close to the border, the board of governors
decided that the club needed a more
central location to accommodate growth
further east in Ridgewood and Glendale.
Aft er many months of deliberation
and research, the Ridgewood Democratic
Club purchased a site located at
2420 Putnam Ave.; today this location
is identifi ed as 60-70 Putnam Ave. They
remodeled the existing building and
built a two-story extension.
The new Ridgewood Democratic Clubhouse
was ready for occupancy in June
1917, when the club had 1,400 members.
The new headquarters was said to be the
envy of Democrats across the borough,
and it gained the nickname as the “Home
of Democracy.”
The location is at the corner of Putnam
Avenue and Stier Place. The latter is
named for Paul Stier, one of Ridgewood’s
biggest home builders and one-time
Queens County sheriff , who died tragically
in 1916. Ironically, Stier was more
closely associated with the Jeff erson
Democratic Club.
During his 15 years as club president,
Berger served to make the Ridgewood
Democratic Club one of the most progressive
in the country. In 1920, the club
established a “Women’s Division,” electing
Emma Dunn as its fi rst leader.
Among the local officials whom
the club supported in its early years
was Albert C. Benninger. A Glendale
resident, in 1906, he was elected to the
state Assembly and later served on the
city’s Board of Alderman, a forerunner
Photo via Google Maps
to the City Council.
In 1916, Benninger was appointed
commissioner of the city’s Public
Works Department. Two years later,
Mayor John Hylan elevated him to
the position of Queens parks commissioner,
a post he would hold over the
next 10 years.
Benninger died in 1937 while serving
as the Federal Marshal for the Eastern
District of New York. The city would
name a playground on Madison Street
off Fresh Pond Road in his honor.
For 30 years, the Ridgewood Democratic
Club had as its leader Joseph F.
Mafera, a longtime Ridgewood resident.
Like Benninger, Mafera’s career of public
service included positions with the
Parks and Public Works departments.
In September 1951, Mafera was appointed
Queens borough president, succeeding
Maurice Fitzgerald, who had
recently died. Mafera would serve just
four months in the post, the shortest
term for any Queens borough president.
Shortly aft er his death in 1967, the city
renamed Glenridge Park, located off the
corner of 65th Street and Shaler Avenue,
as Mafera Park.
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