WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 22, 2019 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization
Committee. This panel, as you
might expect from the name alone,
focused on boosting business along
the Myrtle Avenue shopping strip
in Ridgewood.
Here’s some information about
the committee’s meeting from
that story:
The Committee is preparing a
merchants, shoppers and residents
survey. The purpose of the survey is to
present a questionnaire to the various
groups for input and opinions on the
problems facing the Myrtle Avenue
shopping area.
The quest ionnaire will be
distributed among local senior citizen
centers, civic groups, local churches,
etc. to obtain an even greater crosssection
of community opinion.
Hy Hochberg, president of the Myrtle
Avenue Merchants Association,
requested that improperly calibrated
meters be checked out by the
Department of Traffic. The committee
is also awaiting the results of surveys
being conducted by the Department
of Traffic into extending two-hour
meter parking regulations.
Continuing sanitation abuses on
the Avenue were discussed by the
committee: misuse of corner litter
baskets by residents who place
household garbage there, especially
in the area of Putnam and Myrtle
Avenues; dirty sidewalks; household
refuse put out on non-collection
days by residents who live over the
stores; dirty gutters; and the need
to coordinate carting pickups with
merchants’ refuse left out over
the weekend…
Members of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District at a 2010 meeting.
The committee continued further
discussion on the idea of attracting a
large commercial retail establishment
to Myrtle Avenue.
The Myrtle Avenue Revitalization
Committee will continue to work in
conjunction with the City Planning
Commission and the Borough
President’s Office. Community Board
5 District Manager Jane Planken has
indicated that a minimum of $50,000
has been officially committed through
the Borough Improvement Board for
the Myrtle Avenue revitalization
design plan.
The Myrtle Avenue Revitalization
Committee turned out to be, in
many respects, a forerunner
to the Myrtle Avenue Business
Improvement District (BID),
operated by the Ridgewood Local
Development Corporation.
The BID, a city-supported program,
is dedicated to helping small
businesses thrive along Myrtle
Avenue while also receiving vital
services to keep up appearances.
Over the years, the Myrtle
Avenue strip received numerous
capital improvements and expanded
sanitation and other services. The
Myrtle Avenue BID coordinates
many events each year, including
street fairs along the avenue and
arranges for holiday lights displays
during the Christmas/Hanukkah/
Kwanzaa shopping season.
Today, the Myrtle Avenue
shopping area in Ridgewood —
which runs primarily from Fresh
Pond Road to Wyckoff Avenue
— remains one of the most vibrant
in Queens, offering local residents
and shoppers from all around
Queens with a wide variety of small
businesses and national chain stores
catering to their every need.
The Myrtle Avenue BID, along
with the 104th Precinct Civilian
Observation Patrol, are just two
local organizations born out of
a desperate time in our history
which not only helped keep the
neighborhood survive that troubled
period, but also continue to
thrive today.
* * *
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.
The Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District holds many events each year designed to promote shops in
Ridgewood, including a September street festival.
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