From May to October annually, Forest Hills Stadium in Queens draws thousands of people to its concerts – up to 13,000 per show. The venue hosts music festivals, indie bands and Billboard-topping pop artists. For many, it's one of the premiere live venues (and the largest open-air venue) in the city.

For nearby residents, though, the summer-long parade of loud and sometimes-rowdy concertgoers has become a quality of life issue. Relatedly, the rate of calls to 311 for noise complaints more than tripled on days with events as compared to days without events, during the 2024 season.

One resident, who asked to remain anonymous because she used to work for the stadium’s management company, said she lives a block away from the stadium’s entrance and is on the path concertgoers take from the nearby subway station.

“They’re full of beer,” she said, explaining an anecdote she had heard where 6 men urinated on one fence gate at the same time.

“This is our community,” she added.