Attendees at recent concerts at the Forest Park band shell have been irked by motorcyclists riding through the parking lot and street area while the shows has been in progress.
According to Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block association, recalled one specific incident during an Irish Night concert back in June of this year.
He said that about three to four motorcyclists were riding their bikes through the parking lot adjacent to the band shell and for about seven to eight minutes and concert goers could not hear the music. Wendell described their actions as, “almost willfully disrupting the show.”
“A lot of work goes into those shows and it’s kind of a shame,” he said.
Wendell also said that while he does not have a problem with motorcyclists riding in the park when there isn’t a show going on, it can be a cause of concern for people when there is a performance.
“The parking lot is not for that kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s a danger.”
Andrea Crawford, chairwoman of Community Board 9, agreed with Wendell’s sentiments saying that she has heard from other board members that this has been going on for the past few summers and that the lot is “not a place for doing tricks.”
Part of the problem, Wendell said, is that he feels that police aren’t able to patrol the park as much as is needed. He said that the park is a huge area and sometimes it’s difficult for them to constantly send patrol cars over there, but they do the best that they can.
He added that other parks like Central Park and Prospect Park have their own police precincts and it should be the same for the park in Woodhaven.
“Forest Park is certainly big enough to get that treatment as well,” Wendell said.
Police officer Joseph Martins, a community affairs officer of the 102nd Precinct, said that the precinct is aware of the situation and it is being addressed as of Tuesday.
Although he could not say exactly how often police patrol that area, Martins said that every cop that’s on duty is required to drive through the park to make sure everything is okay in between calls.
When asked about the issue, a Parks Department spokesperson said that it has observed motorcycles illegally driving in Forest Park and the organization is working with police to solve the problem. The spokesperson also said that it has Urban Park Rangers at the park’s visitor center and its Parks Enforcement officers patrol the park by vehicle and horseback daily.
By Luis Gronda
