RIDGEWOOD T WWW.QNS.COM IMES 110TH ANNIVERSARY AUGUST 2, 2018 33
CLASSIC COVERS
New York City hit rock bottom during the summer of 1977. Still digging out
from under a massive fi scal crisis that nearly bankrupted it, the city was
hit by a July blackout that sparked rioting, looting and fi res in the already
hard-hit neighborhoods of the South Bronx and Bushwick. If that wasn’t bad
enough, Bushwick suff ered another major disaster just days after the blackout,
when a massive fi re ripped through numerous blocks. Three youths were
charged for setting off the inferno, as noted in the July 21, 1977 Ridgewood
Times. Bushwick’s problems caught the attention of Mayor Abe Beame and
several challengers in that year’s mayoral election, and it eventually led to
additional resources to help start the neighborhood’s rebuilding.
John F. Kennedy narrowly
defeated Richard Nixon in the historic 1960 presidential election, and
Ridgewood played a key role in his victory here in New York. As the
Ridgewood Times reported, Kennedy carried four Greater Ridgewood
assembly districts in a plurality, winning more than 15,000 votes. Among
the local winners on Election Night were Joseph P. Addabbo Sr. (far
right photo), who won his fi rst term in Congress representing much of
southwest Queens. He would hold the Congressional seat until his death in
1986. His son, Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., carries on the family legacy in politics
today as a state senator representing much of the Ridgewood area.
A labor agreement between Christ the King High School’s faculty and
administrators topped the front page of the Sept. 22, 1977 issue of the
Ridgewood Times. That may not seem like a huge deal today, but the
deal came just a few years after the school nearly closed for good due
to fi nancial turmoil. The new labor contract provided fi nancial stability to
both the school and those who educated its students. Also noted on the
front page were the closing of a Macy’s department store in Jamaica and
the Glendale Chamber of Commerce’s sixth Oktoberfest celebration, a fan
favorite among local residents.
For years, the Ridgewood Times led a campaign to save the historic
Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, a farmhouse dating back to the colonial
Dutch. In the 1970s, its future was in great doubt, as it was vacated
after years of industrial use. Through the formation of the Greater
Ridgewood Historical Society, local residents and members of the paper
teamed up to raise funds for the Onderdonk House’s restoration as an
educational center and preservation as a historic site.