A summer in NYC wouldn’t be complete without the beloved Forest Hills Stadium’s summer concert series. Sure, there’s music to enjoy year-round in the Big Apple, but nothing compares to bopping around to your favorite songs outdoors on a warm summer’s evening. So when we first heard that the stadium’s summer concert series was at risk of coming to a close, we must admit our hearts were shattered. But, as they say, the show must go on!
Though a lawsuit between Forest Hills Stadium and residents of the Queens neighborhood sought to close the stadium after years of “excessive noise pollution” and “littering” from shows, it was eventually dismissed on August 14th, 2024, with a Queens Supreme Court judge stating, “Here, plaintiffs have failed to indicate that their harm is in any way different from the harm experienced by the greater Forest Hills Community.”
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And though a separate notion was then filed aiming to prohibit West Side Tennis Club (WSTC), which owns the stadium and leases the venue to concert operators, from licensing, authorizing, or allowing any concerts to take place at the stadium, a deal has finally been reached to resolve the standoff.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards took to Twitter on Monday, April 14th, to write:
For everyone who’s been wondering if this year’s Forest Hills Stadium concert series will go on, the answer is YES. Proud to announce that an agreement has been struck that will allow the annual concert series to proceed uninterrupted…Let’s be clear: Forest Hills Stadium is a cultural crown jewel bringing diverse crowds from all over the world to Queens every summer through the unifying power of music.
Richards added that the historic venue, which was first constructed to host the US Open in the 1920s before eventually serving as a music venue for the first time in 1960, “boosts Forest Hills economy and is emblematic of all that makes Queens great.”
Complaints regarding the stadium’s concerts included in the previously filed motion alleged that the stadium’s concerts cause “severe and irreparable harm to the community” including impaired resident access to their homes, trespassing, and urinating on private property. To address this, Tiebreaker Productions, the stadium’s concert partner, has reportedly agreed to hire private security to keep an eye on the privately owned streets that surround the venue, a decision that ultimately satisfied concerns from the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation who had previously refused the NYPD access to close surrounding streets.
Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, stated that the stadium can continue with its summer concert series as normal so long as certain conditions are met, including “compliance with city noise code and adequate security measures.”
Following Richards’ announcement, the stadium celebrated the victory with their own post on Twitter, stating:
As anticipated, we’re pleased to announce that the City of New York has given Forest Hills stadium the green light for our 2025 concert season to proceed as planned…We’re excited to welcome fans back this summer and proud to continue our role as a cultural cornerstone of the Queens community.
Forest Hills Stadium never disappoints with its summer lineup, and with a capacity of 13,000, manyyyy New Yorkers take advantage of the summer series each season. This past September, the stadium also played host to music festival All Things Go’s inaugural NYC event, so you can’t deny its importance in NYC’s music scene.
After all, there’s a reason it was named one of the top music venues on the East Coast! View the stadium’s calendar of events–we’ll see you there this summer!