New article about some ways to ripen figs:

http://theitaliangardenproject.com/stuck-with-green-figs/

Please share any feedback about how these or other methods have worked for you.
We are particularly interested in Italian and Italian American methods for ripening figs.

Thanks.  
The article say "If you know any other methods for ripening figs please share them with us. "

Yes, I know one. Have a green-house and enjoy the figs.
I don't have one (yet....).

I also used to place a large clear plastic bag over potted fig plants in the fall that had figs with good size and seemed good candidates for ripening with extra heat trapped in the bag.

Move to Zone10 .

Even in Zone10, if you shave a tree to the ground every two months ... nothing is gonna ripen ...
More seriously, you can't all of a sudden do it. It takes a good planning to achieve ripening fruits.
The planning will start in October for the following season. You have to take good care of your trees :
1. Overwinter them properly. Don't let them die-back to the ground.
2. Remove all the root-suckers that you have no use for, ASAP. You need 3 to 5 stems in one spot, never more or once more you'll face delayed ripening.
3. Fertilize the trees every month from March to August or September
4. Water them from April to September, depending on the weather, every week to every other way.
5. To start with select known strains that will ripen in your locales... Don't start with Panaché in Zone7 .
6. To start with, plant your tree in a sunny spot. A shady spot will delay both growth and ripening of the fruit.
7. Try to target brebas if you never get a chance to ripen the maincrops - select a strain for that.
8. Good luck !
9. In October, if fruits don't ripen, something is wrong and all you can do is take some towels and cry :) .

PS: Praying for more sun and heat at your place may work too .

Welcome to the forum.  I have seen a few articles in the Pittsburgh newspaper with mention of your project.

Some good information here folks. As a retired produce manager of some fifty years, I would often recommend the paper bag method to ripen climacteric fruits. The trick is to surround the fruit with ethylene gas without exposing it to moisture. That why it is important to use a paper bag versus plastic. Besides bananas another fruit with a high ethylene gas level is apples. This time of the year they are plentiful. One more thing, do not refrigerate while trying to ripen as the cold slows the ripening process. Make sure you check th bag frequently. I did not know, however, that figs fell into the climacteric fruit group. I will certainly give this a shot. Thanks IGP.

Great article and details. I was looking for ways to ripen Figs myself and found this forum. The pinching really worked fantastically on my trees. And I have used the oil on the eye just before frost and it has worked really well to speed up the ripening. Happy figging everyone!