QUEENS — Several commercial corridors in Forest Hills will be getting additional sanitation services this year, thanks in part to a company organizing concerts at the Forest Hills Stadium, a local councilwoman said.
This is the second year that Tiebreaker Productions, the promoter of the concerts, contributed a portion of its ticket revenue for this purpose, according to Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz.
Koslowitz already secured $74,320 for supplemental street cleanup services provided by the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless (ACE), which works with homeless men and women, providing them with job training and work experience.
Tiebreaker Productions recently donated more than $40,000 for the purpose, including $29,100 for ACE cleanup services and $11,590 for the Department of Sanitation, which will help pay for more than 20 new litter baskets, Koslowitz said.
In Forest Hills, ACE workers clean the streets, remove graffiti and pick up trash along several commercial strips, including Austin and 108th streets, according to Koslowitz.
"We allocate a portion of every ticket we sell to various local causes," said Jon McMillan, one of the concert organizers. "Keeping Forest Hills and the surrounding neighborhoods clean is a big part of our job as event producers and stewards of Forest Hills Stadium, and we're proud to support organizations that share the same goals."
Last year, Tiebreaker Productions donated more than $27,000 for the same purpose.
The company brought the concerts back to the neighborhood in 2013 after most music events at the Forest Hills Stadium stopped by the late 1980s following opposition from local residents.
To reduce the number of complaints this time around the promoters renovated the stadium and invested more than $500,000 to reduce noise and install new lights. The events, which bring thousands of people to the neighborhood, also end no later than at 10 p.m.
