WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 30, 2018 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
vision of the press release published in
that issue of the Ridgewood Times.
However, The Old Timer could use
a little help from the public in fi nding
out the story of Robert John Kurtz, formerly
of 67-09 62nd St. in Ridgewood.
You’re welcome to write to us if you
know about him. We’ll be able to tell
his story in a future column.
In the meantime, there are a few
items in the press release worth a
closer look.
Bethany Deaconess Hospital was,
at one time, one of the prominent
medical facilities serving Ridgewood
and Bushwick. According to Brownstoner,
the main hospital — founded
by members of the Eastern German
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church — opened its main building in
1902 and quickly outgrew it.
In the years to come, Bethany Deaconess
grew into several buildings
along St. Nicholas Avenue, with two
main addresses: 237 St. Nicholas Ave.
and 415 Bleecker St. In 1966, Wyckoff
Heights Hospital purchased the site and
continued operating it as the “Bethany
Pavilion” before it fi nally closed in 1974.
The complex, according to Brownstoner,
would remain vacant for 11
years before being acquired by Catholic
Charities and razed to make way
for senior citizen apartments.
The Myrtle Avenue Line, of course,
remains in place to serve thousands
of people in Our Neighborhood every
day. Aft er a nearly year-long modernization
project, service was restored
to the line in April of this year. It
carries the M line from Metropolitan
Queens Congresswoman and Democratic Vice President Nominee Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 (photo via
Wikimedia Commons)
Avenue-Middle Village into Lower
and Midtown Manhattan and then
through northwest Queens to 71-Continental
Avenues in Forest Hills.
As it happened, New York State
did not elect a United States Senator
in 1984; Democrat Daniel Patrick
Moynihan easily won re-election to
his Senate seat in 1982, and Republican
Al D’Amato won his second Senate
term in 1986. Each Senate term is six
years.
Of course, a Queens resident did
make an impact on the national political
stage in 1984 — and her presence
would prove historic.
Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro
was nominated by the Democratic
party as its vice presidential nominee,
the fi rst woman ever to have a place
on a major party’s presidential ticket.
Ferraro was the running mate to the
Democratic nominee, former Vice
President Walter Mondale.
While the Mondale-Ferraro ticket
would lose in a colossal landslide to
incumbent President Ronald Reagan
and Vice President George H.W.
Bush (the Democrats carried only
Mondale’s home state of Minnesota
and the District of Columbia), Ferraro
became an inspiration to future
generations of women in national
politics.
The 42nd President of the United
States, of course, was Bill Clinton,
who defeated then-President Bush
in the 1992 presidential election. At
46, Clinton was the third-youngest
person ever to become President.
Theodore Roosevelt remains the
youngest president ever elected (he
took the oath at age 42) and John F.
Kennedy was the second-youngest
(he was 43 when he became president
in 1961).
If you have any memories and photos
that you’d like to share about “Our
Neighborhood:The Way it Was,” write
to The Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times,
38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or
send an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.
com. All mailed pictures will be
carefully returned upon request.
The Kurtz family home as it appears today (photo via Google Maps)
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