Forest Hills concerts: NYPD, Queens civic group settle suit over street closures, neighborhood disruption

A Queens property association has settled its lawsuit accusing New York City of wrongfully closing private streets and blocking residential access when concerts are held at Forest Hills Stadium.

The city will pay Forest Hills Gardens Corporation $150,000 and the NYPD will consult with the property association’s board about the timing and location of the street closures under a March settlement. But the city did not admit fault and the NYPD will "retain discretion and will have final say on all safety and security measures," according to the agreement.

Neither side commented Friday. In an email, an NYPD spokesperson said the department had been "caught in the middle" of a "longstanding dispute between the venue operators and the local homeowners over noise at the venue and private property."

The suit, filed in 2025 in federal court in Brooklyn, alleged that NYPD street closures for about 40 events per year amounted to unlawful seizure of streets and sidewalks owned by the property association.

It also alleged that the summer concerts, which drew as many as 13,000 fans to hear a changing lineup of rock bands, "dramatically disrupted" life for thousands of people who live near the stadium. The residents were confronted by gridlock, litter and concertgoers urinating or smoking marijuana, according to the suit.

The stadium is inside the West Side Tennis Club, former site of the U.S. Open, and has hosted musical acts including The Beatles and Bob Dylan. This summer’s calendar features 20 shows from June through September, including by Paul Simon, Dave Matthews Band and a "rave show" by Australian rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.

But settlement of the property association’s lawsuit against the city may not indicate a return to harmony in Forest Hills.

The website of the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings lists 27 summonses from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection to Tiebreaker Productions, a concert production company based at the stadium, most alleging noise violations. The company defaulted on nine, appealed nine, paid five and rescheduled three, according to the website. Another was listed as "hearing completed."

Still outstanding is Tiebreaker's 2023 lawsuit, filed against the property association for its "bad faith campaign" to stop summer concerts that year. The property association and a neighborhood residents’ group are appealing partial dismissals of separate lawsuits against the tennis club alleging zoning and quality of life violations.

Art Masella, 72, a stage director and former property association board member, said the association settled its suit against the city after a new slate of board members took office in late 2025.

"I believe this board feels they’re doing the right thing, that trying to get these lawsuits behind us is a better thing for the community," Masella said in a phone interview.

Masella, who said he left the board before the elections, said that Tiebreaker had "done their best trying to mitigate sound issues and traffic issues." But, he said, "many people who live within the blocks around the tennis stadium are incredibly inconvenienced by sound, by traffic ... on nights of the concerts."

He added: "When this all started up, it was on the understanding that it would just be minimal concerts throughout the summer. It has now turned into a six-month season of more concerts than Jones Beach in a residential community."

Akiva Shapiro, a lawyer who has previously represented Tiebreaker and West Side Tennis Club in lawsuits, could not be reached Friday. Tiebreaker also could not be reached. 

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.