Forest Hills Stadium began to face lawsuits citing excessive noise by its residential neighbors after concert nights became more frequent.
Photo by Michael Shain
On Monday, a Queens County Supreme Court judge dismissed a large chunk of claims outlined in a lawsuit against Forest Hills Stadium filed by a neighboring homeowner association.
In the suit filed by The Forest Hills Gardens Corporation (FHGC) against the West Side Tennis Club, which owns and leases the stadium to concert operators, the plaintiffs allege that their quality of life has deteriorated as the frequency of music concerts held at the stadium has increased over the past few years.
In August, Judge Joseph J. Esposito dismissed another lawsuit filed against the stadium by Concerned Residents of Forest Hills. He is also overseeing this still-active suit.
He dismissed five of seven claims that cited trespassing and zoning violations, among others, but did not dismiss claims of both public and private nuisance.
The court’s first dismissed claim was a Breach of Declaration, which cited a 1913 declaration of land ownership where the historic stadium and surrounding residences exist today. The copy of the document submitted as evidence serves as the premise that FHGC owns the streets and sidewalks in Forest Hills Gardens.
The judge’s motion to dismiss reads, “The evidence submitted by the plaintiff fails to establish that the music festivals are a noxious, offensive or dangerous trade or business that must be enjoined.” However, in a separate claim, the court acknowledged that loss of control of private sidewalks and increased costs to maintain those highly trafficked streets were nuisances as a result of concerts.
It adds that the 1913 declaration “does not condition the Club’s rights to hold public events” or partner with “third parties in arranging such events” and that contractually, the purpose of the West Side Tennis Club is not limited to just…
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