The future of the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium

From the Times Ledger:

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.”

So it wasn't landmarked because LPC decided that restoring it was too expensive, but it's being restored now, so why not landmark it?

My favorite line of the piece, from Karen Koslowitz: “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.”

Aqueduct deal dead again

From NY1:

Governor David Paterson announced today that the state has officially withdrawn its support for the deal to install video slot machines at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.

The news comes after the Division of Lottery rejected the Aqueduct Entertainment Groups’ request for a gaming license.

The decision also comes after two of the project’s well-known backers, Reverend Floyd Flake and rapper Jay-Z, said they were backing out amid an investigation of why the group was selected.

Paterson says he wants to expedite the process to find a new operator of the proposed racino.

Flake and rappers to be questioned in Aqueduct probe

From NY1:

Former congressman, the Reverend Floyd Flake, along with rap moguls Jay Z and Russell Simmons reportedly will be subpoenaed today, as part of the investigation into the controversial contract to operate a casino at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Flake is an investor in a group that won a contract earlier this year to bring more than 4,000 video slot machines to the financially-troubled racetrack.

Critics, including losing bidders for the project, said Flake’s group won because of his political connections to Governor David Paterson.

The New York Post says Flake, Jay Z, and Simmons are the first of dozens expected to be questioned about the deal.

The paper says the subpoenas were issued by the State Inspector General's Office, which is working with the United States Attorney.

Serves you right for backing the turd last year.