Forest Hills Stadium concert season in doubt following NYPD decision
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The NYPD said it won’t be able to police the streets around Forest Hills Stadium without permission from that co-op that owns the land, casting the 2025 concert season into doubt. Eagle file photo Jamie Poole
By Ryan Schwach
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard may have to wait.
The summer concert season at Queens Forest Hills Stadium was cast into doubt this week after the NYPD said they wouldn’t issue permits or police the streets around the controversial music venue this year.
In a letter, the NYPD informed stadium officials that it won’t be able to guide foot traffic to and from the stadium or issue sound permits after the co-op the land belongs to – the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation – said the department can’t close the privately-owned local streets.
“Due to Forest Hills Garden Corporation's failure to grant the NYPD permission to close the privately-owned streets surrounding the Forest Hills Stadium, the NYPD cannot issue sound amplification permits for events at the Stadium until further notice,” NYPD Legal Bureau Inspector William Gallagher said in a March 19 letter. “NYPD-issued permits are necessary for the lawful use or operation of any sound device or apparatus in, on, near, or adjacent to any public street, park or place.”
The department said that it was notified by the FHGC that it will no longer issue licenses to the stadium, which means the NYPD can’t close the streets and can’t appropriately maintain safety.
“The NYPD's crowd control on these private streets is necessary to ensure public safety and welfare when events are hosted at the Stadium,” Gallagher wrote.
FHGC and the stadium’s operator, the West Side Tennis club, have been locked in court proceedings for years over concert noise levels and crowded streets that the locals have argued has been a detriment to their quality of life.
The courts have mostly sided with the stadium and dismissed a number of complaints brought against the venue.
Without the permits, the stadium will not be able to host its summer concerts. There are currently 13 scheduled, including King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Phish and Alabama Shakes.
“It is our hope that the West Side Tennis Club and FHGC come together and reach a solution to this issue so that the NYPD may resume issuance of sound amplification permits and ensure that events are held at the Stadium in a safe manner,” Gallagher added.
However, Forest Hills Stadium said it is their belief that the concert season will go on as scheduled.
“Forest Hills Stadium is moving forward with our 2025 concert season as planned,” the stadium said on X. “Our permitting timeline is on its standard schedule. As happens every season, the local NIMBY minority of Forest Hills Gardens are attempting to roadblock yet another enjoyable season of music.
West Side Tennis club and its lawyer Akiva Shapiro of Gibson Dunn said in earlier statements and in a letter to club members that the NYPD’s memo concerning the permits was a “rumor” and that they had not heard about the decision directly from the NYPD.
A spokesperson told the Eagle the West Side Tennis Club received the letter as of Monday from the city’s corporation counsel.
FHGC applauded the NYPD’s announcement.
“We sincerely thank the NYPD and city officials for their continued support, diligence, and this important letter,” President of the FHGC Anthony Oprisiu said in a statement. “We also extend our gratitude to the elected officials, community leaders, volunteers, and residents who have helped us reach this point. We remain committed to working with all stakeholders to find a balanced solution that addresses concert impacts while respecting our community.”
For around two-years, FHGC and the West Side Tennis Club have been involved in a contentious court case over the stadium’s concerts.
Locals who live both in and outside of the Gardens Corporation have long complained about the noise levels coming from the stadium.
“The noise can be intolerable, the windows literally shake,” local Martin Levinson told the Eagle last year.
Also, the locals have said that the large crowds who descend on the 13,000-seat stadium pack their streets, often trespassing and leaving trash.
“No New York City residents should be subjected to the intolerable noise and nuisances created
by these concerts that are taking place immediately next to residents’ homes and apartments,” Oprisiu said in January. “We cannot allow any business to undermine the well-being of our residential community. The evidence clearly shows that the concert operations are infringing on the peace, safety, and property rights of our community.”
West Side Tennis Club have consistently argued that the complaints come from a minority of the nearby residents, and the stadium has been a good neighbor and an economic driver for the Queens communities surrounding it while staying within legal boundaries.
Up to this point, the courts have mostly sided with the stadium.
In January, Justice Joseph Esposito of Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term partially granted a request from Forest Hills Stadium to dismiss the lawsuit brought by residents of the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation.
Esposito dismissed five of the seven claims brought by the residents. However, he allowed two to remain – among them is the accusation that the stadium has been both a public and private nuisance, the crux of the residents’ lawsuit.
The court decided that complaints regarding the music’s sound level and the crowd issues, submitted through affidavits, were enough evidence to keep the nuisance claims in the case for now.
FHGC appealed the decision made by Esposito. The appeals currently lie in appellate courts.
In August, Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Caloras dismissed entirely a different but similar suit brought by Concerned Citizens of Forest Hills, a group that formed in opposition to the stadium, ruling it didn’t have standing to sue the Queens music venue.
