8. The Ridgewood Masonic Temple is actually located in Bushwick

Ridgewood Masonic Temple,
Ridgewood Masonic Temple, which received landmark status in 2014.

Located at 1045 Bushwick Avenue is Ridgewood Lodge No. 710, known more commonly as the Ridgewood Masonic Temple. Constructed between 1919-1920 by the Koch & Wagner architecture firm — also known for their work on the East Brooklyn Savings Bank that today serves as a Chase — the Ridgewood Masonic Temple is the only neoclassical Beaux-Arts building along Bushwick Avenue. It follows in the tradition of Masonic lodges constructed as monumental buildings in prominent places with an ornamental front facade being ornamental preserving the secretive nature of Masonic rituals. Though the Ridgewood Masonic Temple is located in Bushwick today, as its name suggests, it was originally built in the Ridgewood neighborhood. At the time of its construction, its location at 1054 Bushwick Avenue was within Ridgewood, but this changed during the Brooklyn-Queens border shift in 1925. 

The Ridgewood Masonic Temple was formerly occupied by the Free and Accepted Masons, with #710 encompassing Ridgewood Lodge #710, Cypress Hills Lodge #1064, and Star of Hope Lodge #430. Ridgewood Lodge would host its first meeting at 943 Gates Avenue on September 28, 1870, with RW Henry W. Turner serving as the grandmaster. During the 1970s, the Ridgewood Lodge disbanded to the Astoria Lodge in College Point in the face of declining membership. The temple was then appropriated as a venue for concerts and orgy-filled parties, many of which were thrown by the famed indie music promoter Todd Patrick. In the early 2010s, the building was slated to be torn down to create 28 rental apartment units, however, before this could occur, the building was given landmark status in July 2014.