Queens Borough President Donovan Richards accused a group of Queens homeowners of racism for denying concert licenses at one of the city’s most prominent music venues, claiming that their efforts to halt summer events at Forest Hills Stadium were biased and exclusionary.
The Forest Hills Garden Corporation has been at odds with the West Side Tennis Club, which maintains the stadium, on complaints that concerts were too loud and rowdy. The FHGC’s judgment prohibited the NYPD from accessing streets in the area, prohibiting the department from issuing the required permits ahead of the stadium’s summer music program.
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The controversy erupted after a hip-hop concert at the stadium in August, when Richards said he saw a trend in the opposition’s complaints.
“There have been some racial undertones for a long time,” he admitted in an interview. “It was very apparent to me that maybe not everyone acknowledges or wants to see the sort of diversity that our borough is representative of.”
He further noted, “Yes, the audience was largely African American.”
Richards expressed similar ideas on X this week, prompting these responses.
“Just mad black people are in your community for concerts,” he stated. “We don’t respond to racism!!!”
Richards informed Gothamist that the stadium has taken significant steps to alleviate the community’s noise issues.
Mike Luba, CEO of Tiebreaker Productions, the stadium’s music partner, confirmed that sentiment, stating that the venue has invested more than $1 million in soundproofing since 2013 and strives to complete events before 10 p.m. He termed homeowners’ concerns overblown, but said they were nonetheless treated seriously.
As of now, the stadium is continuing to prepare for concerts and has no plans to cancel the acts. It blames the defeats on the “NIMBY” minority.
The West Side Tennis Club’s attorney stated that despite the permit freeze, the venue is still preparing for the 2025 concert season. He accused a “vocal NIMBY minority” of attempting to shut down the stadium and “kill the music,” but insisted that the shows would continue. The FHGC emphasized that they are not racist, but rather seeking peace.
In a statement to Gothamist, FHGC spokesperson Sandra Mandell quoted from a recent letter Richards made to Mayor Eric Adams, “Dismissing residents’ concerns as the complaints of a ‘minute number of frustrated individuals’ is both inaccurate and disrespectful, particularly when coming from an elected political representative.”
“Thousands of residents experience the real and measurable effects of excessive noise, littering, crowding, street closures, and public safety challenges. These concerns deserve to be heard and addressed, not belittled.”
Richards also addressed the crux of the permission dispute: the notion that a private entity may deny NYPD access to activities.
“My question is: Why do we have private streets in our city?” Richards stated. “Because guess what. People on these same private streets, when they call 911, the police department has to show up.”
Richards said the concerts, which began in the 1960s, are essential to Queens and its economy.
“I have thousands of people coming into Queens via transportation or driving, and they’re spending their money in Queens,” Richards noted.
Adding, “We want everybody to have access to a good job and a career opportunity right here in our borough. This stadium provides that opportunity.”
The borough president acknowledged how enormous crowds might cause havoc in the neighborhood on music days. He does, however, feel that the great majority of Queens residents, including those who live next door to the venue and those who live on the other side of the borough, want the performances to continue.
“It’s a concert experience you won’t get going to the Barclays Center,” Richards remarked. “We’ve done a lot of work to expand the cultural and music scene in Queens.”
