New board may end Forest Hills Stadium lawsuits
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A newly elected board at Forest Hills Gardens could bring an end to the neighborhood’s lawsuits against adjacent Forest Hills Stadium. Wikimedia Commons photo by Newyork718
By Ryan Schwach
A years-long legal battle between Forest Hills Stadium and its neighbors may well soon come to an end after the co-op board that brought the lawsuits was unseated in an election last week.
The newly elected board of the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation co-op, a wealthy suburban neighborhood adjacent to the stadium, ran on the premise that they preferred to settle the lawsuit against the stadium rather than continue to fight the venue in court.
“It is our goal to end the wasteful legal spending,” said Laura Singh, one of the newly elected board members. “We were very clear with the community that we were for a settlement and not for prolonged litigation.”
According to the certified election results obtained by the Eagle, all seven of the candidates under the insurgent FHG Stand Up slate were elected to the co-op’s board, all reaching over the required 50 percent threshold.
The victorious residents say that voter turnout was significantly higher than it has been in years past. Of the 900 voting-eligible households, 650 voted in this election, a massive increase from the approximately 140 that voted last year.
“It's so encouraging,” said Singh. “One of the most disheartening things about what has transpired so far has been how many people have been left out and not given a say, and so we're really, really thrilled about the outcome.”
FHG Stand Up, a coalition of Forest Hills Gardens residents, launched their insurgency against the current FHGC board earlier this year.
They felt new leadership of the private neighborhood was needed to drop the expensive suits against the stadium and move on from the conflict.
The now outgoing board had previously brought suits against the stadium and its operator, West Side Tennis Club, over concert noise, stadium crowds and the stadium’s use of the neighborhood's private streets.
They are also suing the city in federal court, arguing that by continuing to close off private streets to manage large stadium crowds, residents have been blocked from freely using their property. Unlike other streets throughout the five boroughs, Forest Hills Gardens’ streets are not owned by the city.
Forest Hills Gardens Corporation, which has been locked in litigation against Forest Hills Stadium, elected a new board last week that ran on the premise of settling those lawsuits. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach
“Each time the city closes FHGC’s private streets and directs 13,000 people to physically invade its property to access concerts at the Forest Hills Stadium, FHGC’s members’ lives are dramatically disrupted,” that lawsuit, filed in October, read.
The residents behind FHG Stand Up, some of whom belong or previously belonged to the tennis club, said the majority of the community had little issue with the concerts and the venue. They did, however, take issue with the over $1 million in legal fees that came out of their co-op dues to fund the lawsuits.
Brittany Russell and Jeffrey Mitchell, who are both lawyers and also newly elected members, said that they don’t have a specific plan for approaching the lawsuits, but know they want a solution.
“We do want to put our focus on finding resolution, not fighting,” said Mitchell. “If that can work great, obviously we have a lawsuit pending. If that has to continue for some period of time, I guess that's a possibility, but that's not our focus.”
“Put everybody in a room and don't let them leave until they come up with a solution, that's my big picture view,” he added.
The outgoing board argued that the FHG Stand Up coalition was closely tied with the tennis club, and that they were acting in the club’s best interest rather than residents’.
“They don't want the gardens to sue their tennis club, it's very simple,” the board’s legal chair Matt Mandell said in November.
Mandell and the outgoing FHGC board declined to comment on the results of the election.
The stadium and West Side Tennis Club were not explicitly aligned with FHGC Stand Up, but did hold a candidates night for them and said “their approach offers a constructive path forward.”
“Forest Hills Stadium looks forward to working with the newly elected Forest Hills Gardens Corporation Board in the new year, and we remain committed to open communication and cooperation toward pathways that benefit the entire community,” said Grace Smoker, a spokesperson for Forest Hills Stadium.
Some of the new board members’ terms begin on Jan. 1.
