Named Streets of Ridgewood Queens

Ridgewood’s past comes alive in the stories of immigrants, entrepreneurs, and local leaders who built businesses, challenged norms, and held the neighborhood together in tough times. From a British inventor who jump-started the factory age to a grocer-turned-mogul and a priest who brought a faith tradition halfway around the world, our streets are named for people who made Ridgewood their own—and left a mark that still matters today. Explore their stories and uncover the hidden history behind Ridgewood’s street names with this new Name Explorer neighborhood collection!

1
Maureen Walthers Way
circa 1975
Source

Maureen Walthers (1934 – 2020) was the owner and publisher of the Ridgewood Times and Times Newsweekly.

Walthers was a homemaker in the 1970s when she wrote a letter to the editor of the Ridgewood Times about drug use at a playground a block away. The letter impressed the paper’s then-publisher, and she was offered a job as a writer - it began a five-decade association with the weekly newspaper covering the Greater Ridgewood area (Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth, and Middle Village). She was on the front lines covering the civic scene in Ridgewood and neighboring Bushwick, Brooklyn, during the 1970s. She would ride along with police officers and firefighters as they responded to emergencies in both communities and chronicled the rampant urban decay in Bushwick an award-winning seven-part series, “The Agony of Bushwick,” published in the Ridgewood Times in the summer and fall of 1977. The series brought further public awareness of the community’s woes, and action from the city to reverse the decline.

Walthers was one of the founding members of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society and took an active role in helping to preserve and landmark the Onderdonk House, a colonial farmhouse on Flushing Avenue. She was also an active member of Queens Community Board 5 for many years and served for a time as the chair of its Public Safety Committee. She was also involved with the Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation, which promotes the preservation of the neighborhood’s housing stock. In 1981, she became the Ridgewood Times’ first female editor, as well as executive vice president and co-owner. She became owner of the paper and expanded it over the next three decades beyond the Greater Ridgewood area. She launched the Times Newsweekly in 1989, a version of the Ridgewood Times distributed in northwestern and southwestern Queens communities, extending out as far north as Astoria and as far south Howard Beach. The Times Newsweekly sponsored Cop of the Month awards at eight precincts covering western Queens and Bushwick.

Sources:

Gil Tauber, "NYC Honorary Street Names," accessed June 15, 2022, http://www.nycstreets.info/

Rebecca Roche, "Maureen Walthers, former owner and publisher of Ridgewood Times, to be honored with street renaming ceremony," QNS.com, August 18, 2022, https://qns.com/2022/08/maureen-walthers-street-renaming/

2
P.S. 91 - The Richard Arkwright School

Sir Richard Arkwright was born in 1732 in Lancashire, England. He worked first as a wig-maker before becoming an inventor during the Industrial Revolution. Though he patented some waterpower-based-machinery, his main contribution was through his factory system of production. Arkwright was so successful that by the end of his life he employed over 5,000 workers and was knighted.

3
Bohack Square

Henry Bohack (1865-1931) was born in Oster-Wanna, Hanover, Germany. He came to the United States at age 17, in 1882. He began clerking in a grocery store in Lower Manhattan and three years later opened his own store in Brooklyn with his future brother-in-law. His business expanded in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island to 740 stores and 8,000 employees. Bohack served on the boards of many businesses and organizations. He participated in the Queens and Long Island Chambers of Congress and the Kew Gardens County Club. He resided in Kew Gardens at the time of his death.

The operations for the supermarkets was located at the intersection of Metropolitan and Flushing Avenues. The supermarket chain faltered after Bohack’s death, struggling to survive through a succession of management teams. In 1972, the supermarkets were permanently closed. According to the Bohack Square website, "The complex went through many tenants... Bohack’s industrial, manufacturing warehouses have been converted into a mixed-use commercial complex consisting of class “A” creative office and retail space. Bohack Square offers retail opportunities to Brooklyn focused food and retail, as well as loft-style office space geared towards creative professionals and teams".

Sources:

"Bohack Square," accessed April 23, 2023, https://www.thebohacksquare.com/

"Henry Bohack Chain Grocery Store Owner, Dead," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 17, 1931, https://www.newspapers.com/image/57567180/

"H.C.Bahack Dies," New York Times, September 18, 1931, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/09/18/98058718.html?pageNumber=23

4
Cav. Peter Cardella Way

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.

Sources:

Kim Brown, "Peter Cardella Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award," Queens Chronicle, February 3, 2005, https://www.qchron.com/editions/central/peter-cardella-honored-with-lifetime-achievement-award/article_852ef4e3-a731-5439-99a2-d8ad66e55596.html

_"_On October 28, 2021, Cavaliere Peter Cardella Way was named," Ridgewood Times, December 16, 2021, https://digital-editions.schnepsmedia.com/TW12162021/page_41.html

5
Father Yohanna T. Guirgis Way

Father Yohanna T. Guirgis (1923 - 2018) arrived in Ridgewood in 1973 from Egypt and established New York’s first Coptic Christian Church, St. Mary & St. Antonios, on Woodward Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. As persecution against the Coptic Christians rose in Egypt, many sought refuge in the United States. Father Guirgis was one of the first of the Coptic Christians to arrive in the United States and began aiding other Coptic Christians arriving from Egypt. He rented space in a church and began ministry services for Coptic Christians as they were taught in Egypt. He also assisted Coptic Christians to obtain jobs and housing, often offering his own home until they got on their feet. For over 45 years, he aided hundreds of families.

Sources:

Gil Tauber, "NYC Honorary Street Names," accessed June 15, 2022, http://www.nycstreets.info/

St. Mary & St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox Church. (2018. May 22). The Departure of Hegomen Fr. Youhanna Guirgis. https://copticchurch.org/the-departure-of-our-very-rev-fr-yohanna-guirgis/

Hanrahan, Laura. (2019, March 11). A One-Block Stretch On Woodward Avenue Co-named After Influential Ridgewood Priest. Ridgewood Post. https://ridgewoodpost.com/a-block-on-woodward-avenue-co-named-after-influential-ridgewood-priest

6
Stier Place
1916
Source
2020

Paul Stier (1874-1916) was a prolific builder in Ridgewood, constructing over 2,000 buildings in the early 20th century, which led to the area being called "Stierville." His civic involvement also grew, culminating in his election as Queens County Sheriff, a position that ended tragically.

Born in Mecklenburg, Germany, Stier immigrated to Buffalo, NY, in 1891. He became a mason's apprentice and married Anna Muller in 1898. In 1902, they moved to Ridgewood, where he began building brick rowhouses. He quickly became Ridgewood's largest developer and a major builder in New York City.

His rowhouses, often attributed to the architectural firm Louis Berger & Company, are notable for their curved bay fronts and alternating brick colors. Stier and Berger used standardized floor plans to speed up construction.

Stier developed several areas, including 64th Place, 69th Avenue, and 70th Avenue. Around 1910, he purchased a portion of the Frederick Ring Farm, located between Fresh Pond Road (from present-day Catalpa Avenue to 68th Avenue) and west to Buchman Avenue, where he created Silver and Hughes Streets and constructed dozens of homes. He then built homes on 71st Avenue and 68th Avenue, followed by Elm Avenue. Later, he acquired and developed part of the John C. Debevoise Farm, on the corner of Catalpa Avenue and Fresh Pond Road.

In 1909, Stier co-founded the Ridgewood National Bank. The following year, he partnered with Louis Berger and August Bauer to form Bauer and Stier, Inc. They purchased a portion of the Wyckoff Farm, which they began developing in 1914. On Gates Avenue, Palmetto Street, Woodbine Street, Madison Street, Putnam Avenue, and Cornelia Street, they constructed 80 three-story, six-family brick houses. They built the first large apartment buildings in Queens at the corner of Cypress Avenue and Woodbine Street, each four stories tall with 16 apartments.

Stier was active in politics, founding the Jefferson Democratic Club. He was a member of the board of arbitration for the Building Trades Council, and served as president of the Bricklayers Union Local No. 35. When he found out he was under consideration for the position of Queens County sheriff in 1915, he mounted his campaign, with a slogan of "A German from Ridgewood,” and was elected by a large majority.

On October 23, 1916, less than a year after his election as Sheriff, Stier was killed while serving an arrest warrant on Frank Taff. Taff, an inventor whose latest invention had failed, was in debt and behind on his rent. Two of Stier's deputies had attempted to serve the warrant two days earlier and were threatened with a firearm and a demand that they leave. When they returned, Taff, armed and barricaded inside his home, opened fire, fatally wounding Stier and injuring two other officers. On October 26th, a wake for Stier drew approximately 200 attendees, including employees of Bauer and Stier, members of the Democratic Club, and a homeowners' association comprised of residents from houses Stier had built.

Stier is interred at Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens.

Sources:

"Central Ridgewood Historic District Designation Report," New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee, December 9, 2014

"The Promising Start, but Tragic End, of a Ridgewood Builder: Our Neighborhood, The Way it Was," QNS, July 17, 2021

"Squatter Slays Queens Sheriff, Then Is Killed," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 23, 1916, via Brooklyn Newsstand

"Hundreds Pass by Stier Bier," The Brooklyn Daily Times, October 26, 1916, via Brooklyn Newsstand

"Ridgewood News," The Brooklyn Daily Times, October 27, 1916, via Brooklyn Newsstand,

"Paul Stier," Find a Grave, accessed January 25, 2024

7
Patrolman Charles J. Reynolds Way

Police Officer Charles James Reynolds (1893-1923). On the night of July 26, 1923, Reynolds, along with fellow officer Frank Romanelli, got a ride from Queens to their station house at the 116th precinct in Manhattan. While crossing the Queensboro Bridge, they heard a woman screaming from a taxicab. They managed to stop the cab in Manhattan on 2nd Avenue at 64th Street. The passengers, a man and a woman, insisted that, though they had had an argument, everything was fine. Reynolds, who had pulled the man from the cab, then told the man to get back in and instructed the cab driver to take them to the nearest precinct, where they would be questioned. The man then shot and killed both officers and escaped.

Council Member Robert F. Holden introduced legislation to rename the street 100 years later, in December 2023, and the new street name was unveiled on April 13, 2024. The intersection is located near the 104th Precinct station house on Catalpa Avenue.

Prior to his Manhattan post, Officer Reynolds had served at the Glendale station for three of his four years in the department. He left behind a wife and two young children. Because his time with the police had been brief, his family did not immediately receive his pension. Therefore, officers arranged a block party fundraiser to assist his widow. The event took place on September 22, 1923, near the renamed intersection, on what is now 70th Avenue, between 60th Street and Fresh Pond Road.

Sources:

"Committee Report of the Infrastructure Division," The Council of the City of New York, December 20, 2023.

Michael Gannon, "Honoring a Hero in Glendale," Queens Chronicle, April 18, 2024.

"Slayer of 2 Police Eludes Wide Hunt," Daily News, July 28, 1923, via Newspapers.com.

"Party to Aid Widow of Slain Policeman," The Brooklyn Daily Times, August 30, 1923, via Newspapers.com.