Forest Hills Queens, NY - Long Island Bankruptcy

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Bankruptcy Solutions

The purpose of federal bankruptcy legislation, sometimes known as Title 11 of the United States Code or the “Bankruptcy Code,” is to provide an opportunity for financial reorganization or a fresh start for legitimate debtors who are unable to fulfill their obligations.

Foreclosure Solutions

As you are undoubtedly aware, many homeowners are in arrears on their mortgages as a result of the 2020 recession brought on by the coronavirus. At first, most lenders had been understanding and would have granted a brief suspension of the late payments.

Debt Negotiations & Settlements

Clients regularly hire the Law Office of Ronald D. Weiss, P.C. to represent them in negotiations with banks, mortgage holders, credit card issuers, auto financing providers, landlords, tax authorities, and other creditors.

Mortgage Loan Modifications

The most common strategy used by our firm to prevent a house in severe mortgage arrears from going into foreclosure is a mortgage modification. Mortgage modification and other potential Retention Options are the potential goals of most homeowners in foreclosure because most people experiencing serious hardships with their mortgages are looking for “Retention Options

Credit Card Solutions

For consumers, credit card debt and other unsecured personal loans are the most common types of debt. There are a few legal options for handling credit card debt, including the following: Litigation, bankruptcy, and/or negotiated settlements are the three options.

Debtor Litigation Defense

Many of The Law Office of Ronald D. Weiss, P.C.’s clients face the possibility of litigation or collection activities from their creditors because they are accused of having debt that they are unable to pay or because they contest the existence, amount, or obligation of the debt.

Landlord Tenant Solutions

Landlord-Tenant Law is one of our firm’s areas of expertise; we defend landlords and tenants in a variety of legal proceedings before the Landlord-Tenant Court and the New York Supreme Court. When it comes to eviction and/or collecting large amounts of past due rent.

Distressed Real Estate

A. Pre-Contract When a seller (the “Seller”) sells real estate to a buyer (the “Buyer”), there are usually a number of important steps involved. A seller will first list their property on the market for sale. A real estate broker is frequently hired by the seller to help locate possible buyers for their property.

Student Loan Solutions

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” as Benjamin Franklin famously said. This phrase has recently been amended by popular opinion to include student loans. Since most jobs these days require a bachelor’s degree, the amount of debt that Americans owe on their student loans

Tax Debt Solutions

Many people have trouble keeping up with their tax payments to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (“NYS”), which includes sales taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, and other state taxes, as well as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), which includes individual income taxes.

Originally known as “Whitepot,” the neighborhood was renamed by the Cord Meyer Development Company after they purchased 660 acres in central Queens in 1906, naming it after Forest Park. Significant development occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, spurred by the widening of Queens Boulevard and the opening of the Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway.

Forest Hills has a rich tennis history, with the Forest Hills Stadium hosting the U.S. Open from 1915 to 1977, and the West Side Tennis Club offering grass courts for its members. The main commercial thoroughfare, Austin Street, features a variety of restaurants and chain stores.

The neighborhood is part of Queens Community District 6, with the ZIP Code 11375. It is patrolled by the NYPD’s 112th Precinct and is represented in the New York City Council’s 29th District. Forest Hills is also located within New York’s 6th congressional district.

Development

The development of Forest Park, located at the southern end of Forest Hills, began in 1895. Starting in 1896, the landscape architecture firm of Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot was contracted to provide a plan for the park.

In 1906, the Cord Meyer Development Company, headed by Brooklyn attorney Cord Meyer, purchased land comprising six farms (owned by Ascan Bakus, Casper Joost-Springsteen, Horatio N. Squire, Abram V. S. Lott, Sarah V. Bolmer, and James Van Siclen). The company renamed the 600 acres (240 ha) “Forest Hills” after Forest Park. Single-family homes, designed by architects such as Robert Tappan and William Patterson, were constructed on these 600 acres. The roads of Forest Hills were laid out by 1910, and Ascan Avenue in Forest Hills is named after Ascan Bakus.

In 1908, Margaret Sage, the founder of the Russell Sage Foundation, bought 142 acres (57 ha) of land from the Cord Meyer Development Company to create “Forest Hills Gardens” on the southern side of Forest Hills. Grosvenor Atterbury, a renowned architect, was commissioned to design Forest Hills Gardens, modeled after English garden communities, complete with its own inn, garage, and post office. The neighborhood features narrow, winding roads to limit through traffic and is known for its many Tudor-style homes. The larger homes are primarily located in Forest Hills Gardens, while others are in the area loosely bounded by 68th Avenue to the north, 72nd Road to the south, 108th Street to the west, and Grand Central Parkway to the east. The construction used a prefabricated building technique, with each house built from approximately 170 standardized precast concrete panels fabricated off-site and positioned by crane. Most of these houses were constructed between 1910 and 1917.

Growth

In 1914, the West Side Tennis Club relocated from Manhattan to Forest Hills Gardens. They constructed the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, a 13,000-seat venue, in 1923. The U.S. Open and its predecessor national championships were held there until 1978, making Forest Hills synonymous with tennis for generations. Forest Hills also had a brief golfing presence. The Queens Valley Golf Club began constructing a golf course in the neighborhood in 1922, which opened by 1924. However, the club closed in 1938 to allow for residential development on the site.

Queens Boulevard was widened in the 1920s, and planning for a Queens Boulevard subway line began around this time. Proposals included two stations in Forest Hills: an express station at 71st Avenue and a local station at 75th Avenue. Anticipating the subway’s arrival, developers purchased and built up the land during the late 1920s. Zoning laws were changed to allow fifteen-story apartment buildings, making Forest Hills a more desirable place to live, especially with an express stop. Queens Borough President George Harvey predicted that the subway would transform Queens Boulevard into the “Park Avenue of Queens.” Excavation for the subway line began in 1931, and the two Forest Hills stations opened in 1936 along with six other stations on the Queens Boulevard line.

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, Forest Hills had a population of 86,364, marking an increase of 1,318 (1.5%) from the 85,046 recorded in 2000. Spanning an area of 1,328.22 acres (537.51 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 63.0 inhabitants per acre (40,300/sq mi; 15,600/km²).

The racial composition of the neighborhood was 58.3% (48,822) White, 2.5% (2,086) African American, 0.1% (63) Native American, 24.2% (20,233) Asian, 0.0% (22) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (373) from other races, and 2.1% (1,719) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race constituted 12.4% (10,410) of the population.

According to NYC Health’s 2018 Community Health Profile, the entirety of Community Board 6, which includes Forest Hills and Rego Park, had 115,119 residents, with an average life expectancy of 85.4 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 years for all New York City neighborhoods. The population is predominantly middle-aged and elderly adults: 31% are between the ages of 25–44, 28% between 45–64, and 19% over 64. The proportions of young and college-aged residents were lower, at 16% and 5% respectively.

The southern part of Forest Hills features a diverse mix of upscale housing, including single-family houses, attached townhouses, and both low-rise and high-rise apartment buildings. South of the Long Island Rail Road, the Forest Hills Gardens area is a private community with some of the most expensive residential properties in Queens County. Until the 1970s, it was subject to restrictive covenants that, while not explicitly containing economic, social, or racial restrictions, effectively excluded “working-class people,” as noted by Eric P. Nash in his 2002 New York Times book review of *A Modern Arcadia*. Forest Hills Gardens was named “Best Community” in 2007 by *Cottage Living* magazine. The adjacent Van Court community also has numerous detached single-family homes, while attached townhouses are near the Westside Tennis Center and detached frame houses are found near Metropolitan Avenue.

The north side of Forest Hills is home to the Cord Meyer community, which contains detached single-family homes. The trend of teardowns and their replacement with larger single-family residences has significantly impacted the architectural integrity of the area. However, the Bukharian Jewish community, whose members have settled in the area in large numbers since the late 1990s, advocate for the changes, arguing that the larger homes are necessary for their large extended families.

Forest Hills was once the home of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, which was held at the West Side Tennis Club before moving to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, about 4 miles (6.4 km) away. When the Open was played at the tennis stadium, the tournament was commonly referred to simply as Forest Hills, much like the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships are referred to as Wimbledon.

In popular culture, the 2001 movie *The Royal Tenenbaums* features a scene where Luke Wilson’s character plays a tennis match at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills. Additionally, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film *Strangers on a Train* includes a pivotal scene with a lengthy championship tennis game at the club, showcasing distinctive shots of the surrounding community.

After the U.S. Open moved, the tennis stadium hosted numerous music concerts, including performances by The Beatles. In the summer of 2013, the British rock band Mumford & Sons played to an overflowing crowd, marking the resumption of music concerts at the stadium. Stadium officials have announced plans to host up to six music or cultural events each season.

Forest Hills and Rego Park are patrolled by the 112th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 68-40 Austin Street. In 2010, the 112th Precinct ranked as the 6th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime, attributed to the area’s seclusion and reputation as a “suburb within the city.” As of 2018, the non-fatal assault rate was 14 per 100,000 people, and the rate of violent crimes per capita was lower than the city’s overall rate. The incarceration rate was also lower, at 102 per 100,000 people.

The crime rate in the 112th Precinct has significantly decreased since the 1990s, with a 91.5% reduction in crimes across all categories between 1990 and 2018. In 2018, the precinct reported 0 murders, 18 rapes, 41 robberies, 53 felony assaults, 69 burglaries, 403 grand larcenies, and 37 grand larcenies auto.

As of 2018, preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Forest Hills and Rego Park than citywide. The area recorded 66 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide) and 4.6 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). The population of uninsured residents in Forest Hills and Rego Park was estimated to be 11%, slightly lower than the citywide rate of 12%.

The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Forest Hills and Rego Park is 0.0075 milligrams per cubic meter (7.5×10−9 oz/cu ft), equal to the city average. Ten percent of Forest Hills and Rego Park residents are smokers, which is lower than the city average of 14%. In the area, 19% of residents are obese, 7% are diabetic, and 20% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 20%, 14%, and 24%, respectively. Additionally, 11% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.

Ninety-three percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city’s average of 87%. In 2018, 82% of residents described their health as “good,” “very good,” or “excellent,” higher than the city’s average of 78%. For every supermarket in Forest Hills and Rego Park, there are five bodegas.

In 2018, Forest Hills and Rego Park generally had a higher percentage of college-educated residents compared to the rest of the city. The majority of residents (62%) had a college education or higher, while 8% had less than a high school education and 30% were high school graduates or had some college education. By contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents had a college education or higher.

The percentage of Forest Hills and Rego Park students excelling in math rose from 42% in 2000 to 61% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 48% to 49% during the same time period.

The rate of elementary school student absenteeism in Forest Hills and Rego Park is lower than the rest of New York City. In the area, 10% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, lower than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 91% of high school students in Forest Hills and Rego Park graduated on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

Forest Hills is bordered by two of the largest parks in Queens managed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation: the 1,255 acres (5.08 km2) Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, which is the site of two World’s Fairs (in 1939 and 1964) and the iconic Unisphere; as well as the 544 acres (2.20 km2) Forest Park. Within Forest Hills, parks and playgrounds include the Yellowstone Municipal Park – Katzman Playground, the Annadale Playground, the Willow Lake Playground, the Ehrenreich-Austin Playground, and the Russell Sage Playground.

Access to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is restricted due to the fact that the Grand Central Parkway bisects the neighborhood and the park proper. Pedestrian access exists over the Grand Central Parkway at the Horace Harding Expressway, 64th Avenue, Jewel Avenue, and 72nd Road. A shuttered entrance at 78th Avenue, which previously led to Willow Lake and provided pedestrian access to neighboring Kew Gardens Hills, has been closed since 2001.

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