Venue: Ridgewood Grove Arena
Address: 701 St. Nicholas Avenue
Town: Queens, US
Capacity: 5,000

Ridgewood Grove Arena, formerly known as Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club, was an arena located in Queens, New York, United States. It opened in 1926 and had a seating capacity of 4,000-5,000 for professional sports including boxing, wrestling, and basketball. Incorporated on October 10, 1920 after the Walker Law legalized boxing in New York, the Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club Inc. was established by John H. Gerken, George Emerer, and Clinton P. Hamilton. The company was created to manage theatres and boxing arenas. Boxing promoter John Weismantel was hired to act in an advisory capacity for its boxing shows. An early figure in New York's boxing scene, Weismantel had run the Broadway Sporting Club and later opened the Brooklyn Ice Palace as a boxing club in 1921. Prior to its establishment, the site was operated as a large bar before prohibition. The Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club was granted a license by the New York State Boxing Commission on November 11, 1920 to conduct bouts. The Brooklyn boxing club hosted professional boxing from its original location at Cypress Avenue and Centre St. until the mid-1920s. In the 1920s, the venue's matchmaker was boxing manager Clarence Gillespie, formerly of the Police Gazette. Following a visit to Gillespie in January 1926, American sportswriter Damon Runyon wrote of Ridgewood Grove: "The roof of the Ridgewood Grove is low hung. The spectators are on slopping seats that run clear up among the rafters. The floor seats are wooden benches. It is not a large place, so everybody is right together in neighborly fashion." By February 1926, plans were underway to build a modern 4,000-seat "sports and dancing arena". The corporation, represented by attorney I.T. Flatto, purchased a plot across from the old venue to construct a brick and concrete building with a balcony. The "new" Ridgewood Grove Arena was situated on the corner of Palmetto Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens, near the border of Brooklyn. Covering about 19 lo