A whopping 63 speakers signed up to take the mic at Community Board 6’s meeting last Wednesday, mostly to weigh in on the future of concerts at Forest Hills Stadium. The packed hearing came on the heels of a March 19 letter from Inspector William Gallagher of the NYPD’s Legal Bureau stating that the agency could not grant the necessary permits to hold events at the venue. The Forest Hills Gardens Corp., which owns the surrounding private streets, has denied the city access t

The Open left after its 1977 tournament. Concerts in the 1980s prompted an outcry over noise, litter and traffic. In the 1990s, daylong festivals sponsored by liquor companies brought raucous crowds and charges of racism by a promoter who said neighbors had “a problem with black people coming into the neighborhood.” The music events ended after a flurry of noise code citations from the city.

Borough President Donovan Richards cannot read the minds of his constituents or see into their hearts, but he sometimes acts as if he can. And the result coarsens the debate.