Forest Hills Stadium Neighbors File Motion to Stop 2025 Concerts

Neighbors of Forest Hills Stadium are attempting to shut down — or at least limit — concerts at the venue in 2025.

The non-profit Forest Hills Garden Corporation, which encompasses the private community of Forest Hills in Queens, New York, filed a motion against the venue’s owner, The West Side Tennis Club. The motion, filed in a Queens County court, is asking a judge to prohibit “licensing, authorizing, allowing or otherwise causing any concerts to occur” at Forest Hills Stadium next year.

The motion also offers an alternative: that concerts at least be banned from occurring during the school year — between the months of September and June — and be limited to Fridays and Saturdays. Additionally, the motion asks the stadium to adhere to the city’s noise ordinance.

According to the motion, 11 of the 36 concerts held at Forest Hills Stadium in 2024 did not comply with the decibel limit set by the city. There have been multiple complaints regarding the stadium’s noise levels since it re-opened in 2013.

Marty Levinson, a neighbor of the stadium, told CBS News that he has two layers of windows, blinds, and curtains, however, during a show, “the windows start to rattle.” He told the news outlet that he’s lived a block away from the venue since the 1960s, but now, the music has gotten out of control.

“It’s disturbing to the point, for example, [that] some of our neighbors have sold their houses,” Levinson said.

However, the stadium’s operators are adamant that they are good neighbors, as shows end at or before 10 p.m., streets are cleaned before and after each show, and concertgoers are encouraged to visit local restaurants and bars on the stadium’s website.

In a statement to the New York Post, The West Side Tennis Club’s attorney Akiva Shapiro of Gibson Dunn said that Forest Hills Garden Corporation “is on a mission to kill this icon and end 101 years of tradition and cultural and economic contributions.”

“These complaints all come from a militant few within the Gardens Corp. and their confederates with the goal of manufacturing violations now that the lion’s share of their legal arguments were thrown out of court,” Shapiro said. “The violations are unadjudicated and we expect will be dismissed.”

This marks one of the numerous ongoing lawsuits between neighbors and The West Side Tennis Club.

Forest Hills Stadium was first built in 1923 and was renovated in 2013. It has hosted legendary acts like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Summer.