By MOHAMED FARGHALY
mfarghaly@queensledger.com
The 2025 summer concert season at Forest Hills Stadium is officially moving forward following a tentative agreement between city officials, the NYPD, and the stadium’s concert partner. But a lingering dispute over the use of private roads has reignited tensions with the historic venue’s neighbors, casting uncertainty over the concert series just weeks before it’s set to begin.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced last week that an agreement had been reached to allow the stadium to host concerts this summer, despite earlier concerns raised by the NYPD, which had revoked sound amplification permits due to access restrictions on privately owned streets surrounding the venue.
Under the agreement, Tiebreaker Productions—the company that manages the concert series—committed to hiring private security to monitor and close surrounding streets with blocker vehicles and barricades before and after each event. That condition satisfied the NYPD enough to issue a conditional sound permit.
“Forest Hills Stadium is a unique cultural destination that annually draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world, with its operation providing immense local economic benefits to surrounding businesses, creating hundreds of good-paying union jobs and generating critical tax revenues,” Borough President Richards wrote in a statement. “To expect the stadium to cancel their operations… would be financially devastating.”
But the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation (FHGC), which owns the streets around the venue, pushed back on Tuesday, saying it never authorized the use of its roads and accusing Tiebreaker of misrepresenting its authority to city agencies.
“Tiebreaker has apparently represented to the NYPD that it has an agreement or other legal authority to do what NYPD has concluded it can no longer do—seize private streets for a third-party commercial event,” the group said in a statement.
FHGC also issued a broader statement expressing its growing concerns over the situation. “The Forest Hills Gardens Corporation (FHGC) is deeply troubled by the recent actions of Tiebreaker Productions LLC (Tiebreaker) in connection with the concert operations at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium,” the organization said, reiterating that “Tiebreaker has no authority to operate or deploy any personnel within the private streets of the Gardens or close streets without an explicit license granted by FHGC.”
The group cited a March 19 letter from NYPD Legal Bureau Deputy Inspector William Gallagher, which stated that “the NYPD is not permitted to close the privately-owned streets adjacent to the Stadium.”
FHGC noted that although it had agreed to enter professional mediation with the West Side Tennis Club and Tiebreaker to resolve the long-running dispute, it believes the promoter has since circumvented the process. “Tiebreaker’s attempting to secure a unilateral backchannel agreement to use private security forces to close FHGC’s private streets to its residents is not productive,” FHGC wrote. “Engaging in this agreed-upon mediation process based on this framework is the only path forward.”
The group emphasized it is willing to return to the pre-2023 arrangement, which included a limited number of concerts, strict adherence to the city’s noise code, and a formal licensing agreement for street use.
“FHGC does not and will not accept any ‘private security plan’ that purports to allow unauthorized access, use and closure of our private property,” the organization stated. It also highlighted that “in 2024, 85% of concerts tested by the NYC DEP exceeded official noise limits,” urging the NYPD to strictly enforce noise regulations moving forward.
Despite the mounting objections, Forest Hills Stadium publicly declared that the season would proceed as planned.
“Forest Hills Stadium is moving forward with our 2025 concert schedule as planned and our permitting timeline is on its standard schedule,” the venue wrote on social media. “As happens every season, the vocal NIMBY minority of Forest Hills Gardens are attempting to roadblock yet another enjoyable season of music.”
Concert organizers also issued a celebratory announcement:
“FOREST HILLS STADIUM 2025 SEASON OFFICIALLY KICKS OFF MAY 31,” the venue wrote online. “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.”
The season is scheduled to begin May 31 with a performance by English rock band Bloc Party.
While acknowledging the challenges of living near a major concert venue, Borough President Richards has urged FHGC and residents to negotiate in good faith, emphasizing the broader community’s economic reliance on the stadium.
“But most of all, such a cancellation would economically devastate many nearby restaurants, bars, shops and other establishments who see a surge in patronage on days when events are scheduled at the stadium,” Richards wrote. “The loss of that revenue would undoubtedly put those businesses and the employment of their workers at risk.”
Originally opened in 1923, Forest Hills Stadium has hosted some of the most iconic acts in music history—from The Beatles and Frank Sinatra to Drake and Ed Sheeran. It was named the best amphitheater on the East Coast by Billboard last month. Still, its future now hinges on whether compromise can be reached with the neighbors who share its quiet suburban setting.
