These Forest Hills Stadium concerts made residents most angry

Queens natives LL Cool J and Run-DMC may be hip-hop royalty, but to some residents of the exclusive Forest Hills Gardens enclave, they were just a nuisance last August.

New York City’s 311 system received 55 noise complaints in the ZIP code containing Forest Hills Stadium — nearly all of them targeting the venue and surrounding blocks — on Aug. 6, 2022, the day the legendary rappers headlined the Rock the Bells Festival there, a Gothamist review of complaints shows.

The festival marked an escalation in an ongoing legal dispute between the 13,000-seat stadium and some residents who say the concerts are too loud and attract too many outsiders to their private, planned community, where about 900 Tudor-style homes line private streets. While some residents complain about the noise, others revel in their proximity to the venue, with local business owners saying the concerts are a boon to their stores and restaurants.

Gothamist matched the date of each Forest Hills Stadium concert since 2019 with the number of 311 noise complaints targeting the venue and the nearby blocks. The data shows claims are way up over the past year, with complainants flooding 311 pretty much every time performers take the stage and concertgoers trek through the neighborhood.

The 311 call volume increases on the second or third day of consecutive performances, or whenever a longer festival takes place, records show.

The complaint total for the day of the 2022 Rock the Bells Festival has since been surpassed by three other performance dates.

An Oct. 1, 2022 concert featuring indie rock stars the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Japanese Breakfast tops the charts, with 62 noise complaints in the Forest Hills ZIP code containing the venue.

The 311 system received 58 noise complaints in that ZIP code on Aug. 27, 2022, the day electronic pop groups ODESZA and Sylvan Esso performed, with all but two targeting the venue or the streets immediately surrounding it. And there were 56 noise complaints to 311 on the second day of the Head in the Clouds Festival featuring Asian rappers and pop stars on May 23 of this year.

A June 16 festival featuring LCD Soundsystem and Jamie xx drove most of the 53 noise complaints in the ZIP code that day — the fifth-highest daily total since 2019.

City data show average daily noise complaints have roughly doubled in Forest Hills over the past two years compared to 2019, the year immediately before the COVID pandemic ground events to a halt. The 311 system fielded 1,964 noise complaints within the 11375 ZIP code in 2019, an average of just over five a day.

In contrast, there were 6,997 noise complaints in the zip code between the start of 2022 and Nov. 5 of this year — more than 10 a day. The higher complaint volume reflects a citywide trend.

Attorney Christopher Rizzo represents the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation, a nonprofit association representing homeowners in the private enclave, in an ongoing lawsuit trying to shut down the concerts. He said the venue is violating various city rules, with little accountability.

In an email, Rizzo said concertgoers ”routinely trespass on Gardens property,” adding that shows in the stadium “wildly exceed City noise limits creating a nuisance.”

Mike Luba, head of the stadium’s concert promoter Tiebreaker Productions, called those claims ridiculous and said “cranky neighbors” are exaggerating the noise levels. He said his company takes the neighbors’ concerns seriously and invested more than $1 million to mitigate sound leaving the stadium since concerts resumed there in 2013. Most concerts end by a 10 p.m curfew, he said.

“It’s outright not true,” Luba said of the claims. “The stadium is part of what makes New York magic.”

While some residents took turns denouncing the ongoing concerts at a community board meeting last month, the board is firm in backing the stadium.

In May, Board Chair Heather Beers-Dimitriadis and District Manager Frank Gulluscio sent a letter to the NYPD praising the venue operator’s contributions to the community — including holiday lights along the Austin Street commercial corridor and donations to local schools — and the stadium’s role in “boosting small businesses and increasing tax revenue.”

Several business owners along Austin Street are echoing that economic argument, saying the loud complaints from angry homeowners drown out their support for a stadium that draws thousands to the area each weekend.

“If they were not there, truthfully, I don't know how sustainable my business would be in five or 10 years,” said Steve Elkins, owner of the Station House restaurant on Austin Street, the neighborhood’s biggest commercial strip. “Whether it's a fast-food restaurant or a sit-down place or a bar, I believe that everyone is benefiting within that neighborhood, especially on Austin Street.”

Elkins said business booms during the concert season, which usually runs from mid-May to late October. He said concertgoers visit for dinner before the show and return to Austin Street for drinks afterward. Parents dropping off their kids often stick around and eat too, he said.

“It not only brings people in, it puts Forest Hills on the map,” Elkin said.

Franklin Jaramillo, the managing partner of the Forest Hills branch of Tacombi, a popular taco restaurant, said they double or triple their receipts on concert nights.

“The season’s over and we’re already looking forward to next year,” Jaramillo said. “Not only do we do well, but our team does well. Our business is in tips.”

Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce President Leslie Brown said she recalls going to tennis matches at the stadium as a child and concerts — including a Talking Heads show — as a young adult. The venue is an economic engine for the neighborhood, she said.

“You have to figure that it's not just one night that people come,” she said. “If they really like what they've experienced in Forest Hills, they're going to come back.”