By Sarina Trangle
The Forest Hills Stadium’s revival as a concert venue has gotten rave and raw reviews alike from the surrounding community.
The West Side Tennis Club, which owns the stadium at 1 Tennis Place, invited neighbors to share feedback on last summer’s Mumford & Sons concert with the company hired to put on shows, Madison House Presents, as it finalizes this summer’s lineup.
Madison House Presents has booked Zac Brown Band, an Atlanta-based folk group, for June 21 and Modest Mouse and Brand New, two indie bands, for Aug. 9. The concert promoters aim to plan up to four more shows this summer.
Close to 70 people packed into Our Lady of Mercy Church Monday to share their thoughts. Complaints ran the gamut, from a “pop-up shop” hawking gear on front lawns to throngs of concert-goers clogging the path to subway stations.
But others spoke passionately about the need to preserve a structure built in 1923 to host the US Open and went on to welcome music giants such as Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand. The city considered landmarking the structure, but decided restoring it would be too expensive.
Mike Luba, of Madison House Presents, said selling roughly 16,000 general admission tickets for the Mumford & Sons concert proved too many. Going forward, he said Madison House Presents would limit admission to roughly 13,000 for seated concerts and 14,000 for standing concerts. An assigned seating system will be used to discourage attendees from arriving early in pursuit of good spots.
Luba said neighbors would be given access to advanced ticket sales and deals.
He noted that a permanent stage would be arriving within weeks. Reinstalled seats, wider aisles and new handrails are also in the works.
“It was a good learning experience for us all,” Luba said of the Mumford & Sons concert. “It’s a little tricky getting a 100-year-old stadium back up and running.”
But the changes did not appease everyone.
Alex Tola, a Forest Hills Garden resident who owns a business on Austin Street, said last year’s concert was annoying because it made his commute excruciating and then brought people using marijuana onto his lawn.
“You’re bringing that element into our garden. You’re inviting them in. I mean, what’s next, Jay-Z?” Tola said, referencing a rap star.
Other neighbors countered that transforming the stadium into a thriving concert venue would ensure that its legacy would be preserved and benefit local businesses struggling to attract customers. They said concerts were much preferred to the Tennis Club’s previous plans of selling the stadium to developers interested in building condominiums.
The club, starved for revenue, needed to address close to 30 years of deferred maintenance work, its president said.
Aly Baite said the stadium helped put Forest Hills on the map and provided generations with fond memories, including her mother, who saw The Beatles there.
“This is a public venue space. It has been since 1923, be it for tennis, concerts,” said Baiter, who lives across the street from the stadium. “That’s what it was created for.”
City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) praised the club for initiating a dialogue with the community and for the orderly operations last summer.
“They have been very cooperative,” Koslowitz said, emphasizing that neighbors should be flexible about music content. “Mumford & Sons, this isn’t really my kind of music. I like Jay-Z. And my grandson just e-mailed me today that July 11 they’re going to be at the Giants’ stadium, so Jay-Z’s not coming here.”
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
