WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 28, 2019 31
A bumpy ride into Cypress Ave. history
BY THE OLD TIMER
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Cypress Avenue remains one of
the most important roadways
near the Brooklyn/Queens
border, running from Flushing
Avenue in Bushwick down to Cypress
Hills Street (the road formerly known
as Fresh Pond Road and Stony Road)
in Glendale.
A portion of the roadway from
Bleecker Street to Flushing Avenue
serves as the border itself.
At the turn of the 20th century,
Cypress Avenue was the site of many
major public works projects — and
they were beset by problems.
In May 1899, the city began paving
Cypress Avenue with Belgian block
from Flushing Avenue to Cypress
Hills Cemetery. At around the same
time, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit
(BRT) decided to double a 1.7-milelong
single-track trolley line that
ran along Cypress Avenue from
Ridgewood Depot (at the corner of
Myrtle and Gates Avenues, about
two blocks west of Cypress Avenue)
down to Cypress Hills Street (which
was then known as Fresh Pond Road)
in Glendale.
The Glendale terminus was the
location of Banzer’s Picnic Park, a
popular destination for many spring
and summer outings for thousands of
local families.
The BRT hired a contractor for the
project, and work was started in early
May 1899 — but the project came to
An early 20th century photo of the Fresh Pond Depot in Ridgewood, with trolley cars at left.
Photo courtesy of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society
a halt the following month, aft er the
street had been badly torn up. There
was a dispute between the city and
BRT as to which party would be
responsible for paving between the
new tracks.
The dispute was eventually
resolved and the work was completed.
However, there was a different
problem that led to more construction
on Cypress Avenue.
A lack of adequate sewers caused
tremendous fl oods along Cypress
Avenue south of Myrtle Avenue; the
road quickly deteriorated, and by 1913,
it was necessary to repave it. This
time, granite block (cobblestones)
were laid over a 6-inch thick concrete
base, with the granite stones sealed
with tar and gravel.
Just prior to World War I, the
Ridgewood Civic Association
requested of the BRT that the Cypress
Avenue trolley line be extended to
continue past Banzer’s Park and go
south down present-day Cypress Hills
Street to Jamaica Avenue. Inasmuch
as Cypress Hills Street was only
30-feet wide in some parts, it would
have required extensive alterations
to widen it to 75 feet, by removing
parts of the cemeteries on both sides
and relocating many graves.
Because of the cost, the idea
was abandoned.
In May 1917, it was announced that
the Ridgewood Depot would no longer
be used. It had housed the trolley cars
and before that the steam dummy
trains that were used in the area. The
depot consisted of three buildings:
an offi ce or administrative building
which was known as Bushwick
House; a wooden clubhouse known
as “The Cottage” and a red brick
“rumbling” building at Gates and
Wyckoff avenues.
The administration and the
clubhouse were built by the Bushwick
Railroad Company. The car house was
built by the Brooklyn City Railroad
Company, which had purchased the
Ganta Farm in 1872 for $4,000 per
acre so that they could construct the
car house, which held 270 cars. The
two companies then merged in 1888,
so all three buildings were under
common ownership.
The Bushwick Railroad leased out
the clubhouse for use as a beer garden
and concert hall, and it was used by
local residents. The Ridgewood Depot
was replaced by the car terminal at
Fresh Pond Road and Putnam Avenue,
which had 18 tracks in the yard for
700 cars, plus a yard holding 200
surface cars.
Trolley cars disappeared from
Our Neighborhood’s landscape long
ago, and were replaced with buses.
Today, the former Ridgewood Depot
is the site of the Fresh Pond Road
bus depot and the Fresh Pond Yard,
where M trains are stored when not
in service.
Source: the Nov. 7, 1985,
Ridgewood Times.
* * *
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.
Trolley tracks down the center of Cypress Avenue in Ridgewood are shown
in this 1940 photo.
Photo courtesy NYC Municipal Archives, reprinted with permission.
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