Years of noise complaints against Forest Hills Stadium have failed to get the famed concert venue shut down, but the venue’s grumbling and sensitive-eared neighbors just won a $150,000 consolation prize.
The Forest Hills Gardens Corporation (FHGC) quietly reached the six-figure settlement with the city last month, a move that came shortly after its board was recently overhauled by a slate of residents who didn’t have gripes with the iconic stadium.
The previous iteration of the FHGC, which owns the private streets surrounding the venue, had filed the federal lawsuit in October, alleging that police “unconstitutionally” took control of the group’s property on more than 30 concert days last summer to help the Forest Hills Stadium rake in millions of dollars.
As part of the peace brokering reached last month, the NYPD agreed to pay the huge sum to the corporation, which runs the mega-wealthy, exclusive enclave in central Queens.
It is not clear what that money is for, or why that amount was reached. City Hall did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The department also agreed that its 112th Precinct captain would be consult the FHGC board for any planned security arrangements on and around the property for all events.
The police will consider “reasonable” requests from the group, but “will retain discretion and will have final say on all safety and security measures, including but not limited to placement of NYPD officers and barricades, that are implemented after a Security Consultation,” the settlement states.
Local Councilmember Lynn Schulman supports the settlement, though didn’t comment on the cost.
“The Council Member is happy that the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation has reached a settlement with the City to ensure our streets remain safe for community members and concert-goers alike,” her office said in a statement to The Post.
Resolving the lawsuit was a mission that the newly elected FHGC board had campaigned on before taking office in January.
“The goal is to bring the temperature down, find areas where we agree, identify where we don’t agree, and see if we can come to an agreement on those things we don’t agree about,” board member Jeff Mitchell, a trial lawyer, told The Post in December.
The suit was one of several filed by the preceding board, which spent over $1 million across its three-year war with the stadium.
This year’s summer concert series is expected to kick off June 6.
