Forest Hills Stadium Concert Deal Ends Years of Neighbor Feud

Forest Hills Stadium will keep hosting concerts for the foreseeable future under a settlement announced this week, ending a long and bitter fight between the Queens venue and the neighbors who live beside it.

The agreement resolves all pending litigation between the neighborhood group Forest Hills Gardens Corporation, the stadium’s owner, the West Side Tennis Club, and its operator, Tiebreaker Productions. In a joint statement, the three parties said the stadium may host up to 28 concerts a season through 2040.

The Gardens Corporation, responding to residents’ complaints about noise and traffic, had filed multiple lawsuits over the past few years aimed at stopping or scaling back the shows. According to Gothamist, which first reported the settlement, the group at one point refused to let the NYPD close its private roadways to help manage concert traffic. The department responded by temporarily withholding sound permits.

The settlement puts money on the table for the neighborhood. Tiebreaker will make what the parties described as “substantial payments” to the Gardens Corporation for each show, starting at $15,000 per concert in the first four years and rising to as much as $18,000. The company will also make a one-time upfront payment of $275,000, part of which is earmarked for “restoration and beautification projects.”

The deal also sets operating rules. Amplified sound will be subject to a curfew, concert traffic will be limited to designated routes, and rideshare pickups will move outside Forest Hills Gardens, the leafy private enclave that surrounds the stadium.

The Gardens Corporation’s board praised the agreement in a statement, saying it provides clear, enforceable protections for the first time. Tiebreaker said the deal preserves the venue’s future while supporting the neighborhood.

The settlement follows a change in the neighborhood group’s leadership. A new board, elected at the end of last year, campaigned on ending the stadium litigation and pointed to legal costs as a reason. In March, that board settled a federal lawsuit against the city over the use of the private streets for $150,000.

The stadium’s concert calendar has continued through the dispute. Rauw Alejandro performed there on Sept. 5 at the inaugural Red Bull Chapters event. For the audiences who fill the grounds on summer nights, and for the residents who live just beyond its walls, the new terms offer something both sides have lacked for years: a written set of rules that will last well over a decade.