Forest Hills Stadium neighbors insist concert noise dispute remains unresolved amid claims of a truce
Some Queens residents are dreading the upcoming summer concert season after they say their complaints about noise levels at Forest Hills Stadium have gone unaddressed.
The issue
has been causing controversy for years
.
In a new turn for the conflict, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards says the shows will go on, claiming his office helped opposing sides reach an agreement.
"Thousands of union jobs are attached to these concerts," he said. "Music brings us all together."
But some are calling it a misrepresentation.
"There's no agreement reached. It's just completely wrong," Forest Hills resident Matthew Mandell said.
He is law chair for the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation, a group of homeowners suing over what they call an escalation. They say stadium concerts have spiked in volume and frequency in recent years, shattering pre-pandemic norms.
"What this is about is a hedge fund and their partners making as much money as possible," he said.
Some neighbors tell CBS News New York
they can't hear themselves think over the window-rattling bass, made worse by litter left behind.
"I think what they did is they just took a messy situation and made it much messier," Mandell said.
In a reversal of a
previous order denying sound permits
, a new letter from the NYPD says the season kick-off show featuring the group Bloc Party can go forward on May 31 with private security and other provisions.
"It just seems kind of like a Hail Mary pass to try to make things work when they're not addressing the real issues," Mandell said.
Some neighbors on the residential streets surrounding the stadium are looking forward to this year's shows, however.
"I love the concerts. I like the community it brings," said Bambi Levine, a resident of 25 years. "It just makes the neighborhood feel really, really special and cool."
In response to the pushback, stadium representatives told CBS News New York:
"Nobody should listen to this small group of individuals who are indifferent to judges' orders and the careful, comprehensive safety plan that has been vetted by the City of New York and the NYPD. See you at the Stadium this summer!"
You can email Elle with Queens story ideas by
CLICKING HERE
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Puerto Rican culture takes over East Harlem for 116th Street Festival
EAST HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) – More than 500,000 people will descend upon East Harlem on Saturday for the 40th anniversary of the 116th Street Festival, celebrating Puerto Rican culture, music, food and more. The 20-block festival leads up to the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, which will be held along Fifth Avenue on Sunday. Here's everything you need to know about the 116th Street Festival: More Local News The festival kicks off at 10 a.m. and is expected to run through 5 p.m., according to organizers. The following streets will be shut down at the discretion of the NYPD: Third Avenue between 106th Street and 122nd Street 116th Street between Lexington Avenue and Second Avenue Tito Puente Jr., Frankie Negrón and Luis Damón are all set to take the stage during the 116th Street Festival. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State The 116th Street Festival will air live on PIX11, and the PIX11+ smartTV app from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Meghan Markle's Netflix show likely to get another season: Source
Welcome to 'The Scoop' — the ultimate back-to-the-office water cooler cheat sheet, your go-to source for all things everyone really wants to know! Get the latest on everything from the political swamp maneuvering in D.C. and Hollywood drama to jaw-dropping small-town shenanigans from Paula Froelich. (NewsNation) — This week, Meghan Markle bizarrely announced on her 'Confessions of a Female Founder' podcast that she was putting her As Ever line of food products on pause before 'restocking' to ensure everything was 'stable' — telling guest Tina Knowles, 'I'm looking at it, saying, just pause. That happened. Let's wait until we are completely stable and we have everything we need.' As I reported (and people are now just picking up on) earlier this year, Markle had only a 'limited supply' of products — jams, dried flower sprinkles, crepe mix, etc — ensuring they would sell through quickly, a common marketing gimmick. As I also reported, the 'second season' announced immediately after the first dropped, was a turn of phrase as the shows had already been shot, and it gave editors time to edit in As Ever products. Michelle Obama to release style book to spotlight 'the way our society defines beauty' But I'm now hearing that Markle will be granted a third season, regardless of viewership, as Netflix is invested in making her product line and show a success. It is the first time Netflix has fully produced a product line and, like QVC or Home Shopping Network, sees it as a new cash cow for them (doing shows and selling products from these shows that Netflix manufactures). The new line of As Ever products is said to include tablecloths, linens, silverware and everything one would need to make a pretty table scape… something Markle, a visualist, is very keen on. And a third season of the show will focus on the new As Ever products — and how people at home can buy them. Markle, whose show 'With Love, Meghan' dropped off Netflix's top ten in less than a week, may have alienated her agent, her coworkers and the royal family, but she has one big supporter in her corner… Netflix head Ted Sarandos. In an interview with Variety (which called the show a 'forced march') Sarandos said, 'I think Meghan is underestimated in terms of her influence on culture. When we dropped the trailer for the 'Harry & Meghan' doc series (in 2022), everything on-screen was dissected in the press for days. The shoes she was wearing sold out all over the world. The Hermès blanket that was on the chair behind her sold out everywhere in the world. People are fascinated with Meghan Markle. She and Harry are overly dismissed.' Prince Harry spoke with uncle about taking Princess Diana's surname: Report I hear that while most people are 'done' with the Sussex crew at Netflix, this third season will be a Hail Mary to try and see if commerce and entertainment really can be combined for a profit at the streamer. A rep for Markle didn't return emails. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
4 days ago
- New York Post
Soap star on crusade to save her husband — accused of spying
Emmy-winning soap star Martha Byrne is in the midst of her most challenging role yet — starring in a real-life spy drama. A seemingly routine job taken by her husband, former NYPD cop Michael McMahon, 57, unraveled into an almost 10-year nightmare, resulting in him becoming the first private investigator convicted of spying for the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the US. In one scene which could have been plucked from Hollywood thriller, a dozen FBI agents surrounded their New Jersey home in the fall of 2020. Advertisement 8 Martha Byrne's book is out today. 'From the moment the FBI knocks on your door, your fight-or-flight instinct kicks in,' said Byrne, who played Lily Walsh on 'As the World Turns' in the mid-'80s and again from 1993 to 2008. 'It starts when you wake up until nightfall, when sleep is interrupted by a powerful demonic entity threatening to tear your entire life apart.' 8 Martha Byrne said she found strength in her Catholic faith in the battle to exonerate her husband. Tamara Beckwith Advertisement The mother-of-three has transformed herself into an investigator, advocate, personal trainer and even amateur psychiatrist for her husband's cause. McMahon denies he knowingly worked for the Chinese government, and has long maintained he is a scapegoat used by the Department of Justice to score political points by making an example of him. Byrne's continuing fight to exonerate McMahon is told in her new book, 'In the Interest of Justice: One Woman's Fight Against a Weaponized Justice Department to Save Her Husband.' 8 Michael McMahon, a highly decorated NYPD veteran, suffered a series of panic attacks after his arrest on conspiracy for acting as a spy for China in 2000. Tamara Beckwith Advertisement 'You don't have to have the largest army to conquer the enemy, just the smartest,' she writes. Armed with her computer and cell phone, Byrne, 55, has become an expert on Operation Fox Hunt — the Chinese government's scheme to track down and prosecute dissidents in foreign countries, mostly without the cooperation of their sovereign governments. The Post previously revealed a Chinese police station in Lower Manhattan, where officials allegedly often work with local private investigators to nab Chinese nationals, usually on charges from the motherland. McMahon was convicted of stalking a New Jersey couple who are Chinese expatriates. He maintains he had no knowledge he had been working on behalf of the PRC. Advertisement 8 Martha Byrne acted as a domestic drill sergeant in order to keep her husband's spirits up while they prepared for his trial in 2023. Tamara Beckwith After his 2020 arrest, McMahon began having panic attacks, according to Byrne, who snapped into action and became his personal trainer. 'You can have one day in bed,' she told her husband. 'But ONLY one … Depending on his mood, I balanced the dual role of cheerleader and tough love drill sergeant.' She also knocked on doors — going to police precincts in New Jersey to tell her husband's story, and seeking out other private detectives to warn them they were potential DOJ targets and of the need to verify Chinese clients were not working for the PRC. 'Justice would most certainly prevail,' she writes. 'We just had to fight.' 8 Martha Byrne worked as an investigator and advocate for her husband, trying to clear his name. Gregory P. Mango Not everyone rushed to help. Byrne went to see 2017 New York City mayoral candidate Bo Dietl, who runs one of the biggest PI firms in the world, based in Manhattan. She claims he listened to her story and then had a colleague hand her a card with a lawyer's name on it before abruptly ending the meeting. The Post previously revealed that Dietl went into business with a Chinese security company in 2015 and had boasted on WABC's 'Sid and Friends in the Morning' that he had surveilled the exiled Chinese billionaire dissident Miles Guo. He has never faced any charges related to this and declined to comment Wednesday. Advertisement Among those who have backed Bryne's fight is retired FBI agent Kevin Hecht, one of the foremost experts on Chinese counterintelligence, who began investigating Operation Fox Hunt in 2016. Despite his extensive experience, Hecht told The Post last week that he was never consulted on McMahon's case. He called McMahon's case an example of 'malicious prosecution' on the part of the DOJ. 8 Bo Dietl worked with a Chinese security firm and conducted surveillance on a Chinese billionaire. Paul Martinka Advertisement 'The facts of this case show McMahon was not part of the Fox Hunt scheme, but rather, used to obtain documentation of a civil nature, such as real estate and other financial footprints,' Hecht said in a statement. While preparing for McMahon's trial, which began 2023, the family was horrified when they found out that the federal government had obtained a secret warrant to track their emails. 'One day in early 2021 we received a very disturbing letter from Microsoft alerting us they had complied with a search warrant issued on December 31, 2018, from the Department of Justice for our emails,' she writes. 'We knew the government must have looked through our emails but seeing it in writing is something I can't describe. Microsoft's letter [said] the warrant was now finally closed. How long had it been open? We felt completely violated. I had no idea if they had spied on our children. How often was I followed' Advertisement 8 The People's Republic of China set up a 'police station' in Lower Manhattan in order to spy on dissidents in New York. REUTERS The family never found out. But Byrne said agents scoured 10 years of her and McMahon's banking records and credit card bills. Now, as McMahon prepares to turn himself in to authorities to serve his 18-month sentence on June 16, they are hoping for President Trump to intervene and issue a pardon. 'It brought me hope when I saw the caliber of people Donald Trump appointed to his administration … many who at one time had been targets of the government themselves,' she wrote. Advertisement McMahon was hired in fall 2016 by what he believed was a translation company from New Jersey to do surveillance on a luxury Short Hills, NJ, home occupied by a relative of Xu Jin and Liu Fang, and to use public records to find companies and other assets registered to the couple. 8 Byrne, seen here at home with McMahon, says the family has almost exhausted their funds trying to exonerate McMahon. Tamara Beckwith/NY POST He was told that he was locating assets for a civil court case. Xu and Liu, he was told, had stolen money from a construction company and the people who hired him wanted to find where the cash had gone. What he was not told was that Xu was a former Wuhan official who had fled China amid allegations of corruption. McMahon's work was used without his knowledge in a 2018 New Jersey civil suit against the couple and others, brought by the Xinba Construction Group Co., alleging they had embezzled millions. Xinba won a nearly $15 million default judgment in 2019, court records show. Meanwhile, Byrne and her family have practically exhausted their savings on legal fees, she writes, adding they have very little left to fund an appeal. 'Not sure what more I can do,' she told The Post. 'Pray. That's all I do. And slowly, prayers are getting answered.'
