32 TIMES • OCTOBER 8, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com old timer Taking a look back at the Ridgewood Times from 20 years ago The O.J. Simpson murder trial was in its waning days. The Yankees won the fi rst-ever American League wild card playoff spot. There was a Clinton in the White House and Mariah Carey was at the top of the music charts. We’re taking you back today to Sept. 28, 1995, and looking inside that day’s issue of the Ridgewood Times and Times Newsweekly. Here’s what was happening: - The big story was the arrest of an alleged sex attacker who was collared by the 104th Precinct at the Forest Avenue M train station. Police said the man raped and robbed the 18-year-old female victim at about midnight on Sept. 22. Police were called immediately, and 104th Precinct offi cers collared the suspect at the Forest Avenue station platform. The perpetrator was seen stuffi ng a piece of clothing into his pants, which was determined to be a striped shirt matching the description that the victim provided. - Crime was a particularly big issue in 1995, and the Times had a story about a meeting of COP 104 (Committee of Organizations of Precinct 104) in which residents voiced frustration over problems near Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village. These included vehicles parked on the sidewalk, dogs being walked off the leash, canine droppings, graffi ti and loitering in the park after 9 p.m. In their defense, representatives of the 104th Precinct indicated they had cracked down on those problems during the summer, including issuing more than 200 parking violations and spending “several hours” removing loiterers from the park. - The front page also had a notice about a Columbus Day Parade held that Saturday by the Fresh Pond Road Chamber of Commerce. The march was to start at Reiff Playground in Maspeth at the corner of Fresh Pond Road and 59th Avenue, then work its way south through Middle Village and Ridgewood before ending at Myrtle Avenue. - Two former members of the Ridgewood Masonic Lodge were indicted for allegedly stealing $160,000 from the organization. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said the members made the illegal withdrawals between 1990 and 1993 from bank accounts that contained member dues and donations. The scam was uncovered when a lodge member, while reviewing fi nancial records, discovered that $10,000 was missing. - Turning to schools, members of Community School Board 24 — which previously oversaw the school district of the same number — approved a student ban on box cutters and deliberated the district’s safety and disciplinary code. According to Community Superintendent Joseph Quinn, unruly or violent students from upper grades would be assigned to a specialized Queens school, mimicking a system put in place in the Bronx. - Looking for a home? The Ridgewood Times classfi ed pages had an ad for Juniper Park Realty featuring a two-family Ridgewood brownstone on the market for $194,500, a two-family brick home on 87th Street in Glendale for $219,000 and a semi-detached two-family off Eliot Avenue in Middle Village for $389,000. Renters could fi nd in the classifi eds a two-bedroom Maspeth apartment for $875 a month, a six-room box apartment in Ridgewood for $670 a month and a fi ve-room apartment in Middle Village for $900 a month. - In sports, Christ the King Regional High School drubbed St. Joseph by the Sea in a 36-0 route at St. John’s University, giving the Royals their fi rst win of the season. Junior running back Vinny Ruddy ran for 247 yards and had 17 carries, including a 75-yard run in the third quarter. His performance earned Ruddy the paper’s Athlete of the Week honors. If you have any memories and photos that you’d like to share about “Our Neighborhood: e Way it Was,” write to e Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 62-70 Fresh Pond Rd., Ridgewood, NY 11385, or send an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned upon request.
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