The fight between Forest Hills residents and concert venue Forest Hills Stadium continues, as a new lawsuit against the city has been filed.
On Monday, Forest Hills Gardens Corporation (FHGC), the residents’ association of the Queens neighborhood, filed a federal court lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York against the New York City Police Department and the city for allegedly taking over private streets to facilitate its concerts.
The lawsuit follows a longstanding string of noise complaints from the neighborhood, up until 2022, when FHGC permitted concerts on its streets. In 2023, the association stopped granting those permits due to continuous loud and disruptive concerts. Concerts continued to be held despite FHGC disapproval.
In March, Forest Hills Stadium was initially unable to host its summer concerts after the venue’s sound amplification permits — along with city and NYPD approvals to close private roads — were denied. The matter was later settled in April when Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced a deal that would allow the venue to continue its upcoming concerts.
The current lawsuit claims that the city’s use of the neighborhood’s private streets to manage concert crowds violates residents’ rights to access and use their own property, stating that the city is taking over private property without compensation, FHGC attorney Katie Rosenfeld said in an interview with Queens Daily Eagle.
“At this point, the concert promoter is earning millions and millions from these concerts, but the people who live in Forest Hills Gardens, who are really bearing the brunt of these events on a day-to-day basis, have received nothing,” Rosenfeld said in an interview with The Gothamist.
Currently, Forest Hills Stadium will still host indie bands Parcels and Big Thief later this month.
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