Cavaliere Peter Cardella (1917-2014) was a dedicated Ridgewood resident who always advocated for the senior community. In 1974 he founded the Ridgewood Senior Citizens Center, which at one time served roughly 60,000 senior citizens each year and is now named for him. He also founded the Italian Cultural Center at St. John’s University, organized the Santa Maria del Soccorso annual street fair for 18 years, and helped raise thousands of dollars to assist victims of the South Asian tsunami. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by former Borough President Helen Marshall in 2005.