Hozier performs at Forest Hills Stadium during the 2024 concert season.
Photo credit: Bryon Kwon
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The new Forest Hills Gardens Corporation (FHGC) board last month quietly settled its lawsuit with the city over how the NYPD polices events at Forest Hills Stadium.
Last year, FHGC, which represents homeowners in the neighborhood, filed a lawsuit against the city in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, accusing the city of unconstitutionally seizing private streets belonging to the homeowners organization to accommodate events at the venue.
FHGC, which owns the private streets surrounding the popular venue, previously issued licenses for concert seasons at the stadium but declined to do so in 2023 because the schedule had become “so large and disruptive.” However, the organization accused the city of continuing to close the streets and directing concertgoers onto private property ever since without compensating residents for doing so.
In March 2025, Inspector William Gallagher of the NYPD’s Legal Bureau penned a letter to West Side Tennis Club, which owns and operates the venue, stating that the NYPD would not be issuing sound amplification permits for the 2025 season because FHGC would not grant the police access to the private roads surrounding the stadium.
The issue was eventually resolved when the NYPD approved an alternative security plan that saw private security teams monitor conditions on the roads leading to the venue, which allowed the 2025 season to go ahead as planned.
However, FHGC alleged that it was shut out of the decision-making process for the alternate security plan. The homeowners group has argued that the measure represents a violation of the 5th and 14th Amendments, stating that they were granted no due process when the private streets were allegedly seized to accommodate events at the stadium.
But FHGC’s new board, elected at the end of 2025, has opted to settle the lawsuit with the city for $150,000. The settlement also requires the NYPD and the 112th Precinct to work closely with local residents about planned security arrangements for events in and around the stadium.
As part of the settlement agreement, the NYPD will retain final say over security arrangements at the venue, but the police will consider “reasonable requests” from FHGC.
The agreement states that the parties have reached an amicable agreement without admission of liability.
Jeff Mitchell, a newly-elected co-chair of the FHGC board, said FHGC looks forward to working with the police going forward. The new board had campaigned on bringing several lawsuits related to the stadium to an end ahead of last year’s election, pointing mainly to the cost of legal fees.
FHGC had also sued West Side Tennis Club and Tiebreaker, which operates events at the stadium, over claims of trespassing and zoning violations. The residents group had argued that concerts at the stadium were creating a nuisance and disrupting the lives of residents.
In October 2024, Queens County Supreme Court Judge Joseph J. Esposito dismissed five of seven claims brought against West Side Tennis Club and Tiebreaker. However, he did not dismiss claims of public or private nuisance but also did not deliver a verdict in either case.
Esposito encouraged all parties to continue working with the NYPD to ensure that concertgoers do not stray from designated routes and venture into residential areas.
Mitchell said FHGC has not yet reached an agreement with either West Side Tennis Club or Tiebreaker over the claims but said all parties remain in communication.
Representatives of Forest Hills Stadium did not reply to a request for comment. However, officials previously told QNS that the stadium engages in close coordination with the city and local residents “at every turn.”
Akiva Shapiro, an attorney representing West Side Tennis Club, described the lawsuit as the actions of a “rogue homeowner’s association,” stating that efforts to shut down events at Forest Hills Stadium would be “catastrophic” for the local economy.
The 2026 Forest Hills Stadium season is set to kick off on June 6 with a performance from indie rock band Bright Eyes, with Irish artist Dermot Kennedy currently slated to conclude the season with a performance on Sept. 29. A total of 20 events have been planned for the 2026 season at the time of writing.