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FYI: LiveNation's 'The Meadows' Festival Is In A Parking Lot
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 1, 2016
Modified Aug 1, 2016
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 1, 2016
Modified Aug 1, 2016
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When AEG entered the NYC festival game this year with their Panorama event, they wanted to host it in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Governors Ball also wanted to relocate there from Randall's Island. And MSG was hoping to hold their first music festival there, too. But the city stepped in and stopped it all. So when LiveNation announced that their Meadows Festival would be taking place in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, there was a little bit of confusion. How could they have gotten a permit when everyone else was denied? Well, they didn't.
When the other festivals were trying to get their events on the old World's Fair grounds, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz was reportedly "refus[ing] to back any of the proposals unless the city requires applicants to meet with the community before awarding permits." Then in January, Mayor De Blasio announced that the Parks Dept had denied "all current applications by for-profit companies to hold paid-admission music festivals this summer in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park."
In June, when LiveNation announced their Meadows Festival, they did so in a way that certainly sounded like it was taking place within the park (the festival's name alone!)—their website states both "CitiField" and "Flushing Meadows Corona Park" as the venue, which is confusing, misleading and not at all transparent.
Furthering the confusion, Founders Entertainment's Tom Russell made this statement, "Launching the Meadows Festival in Queens this fall... As a native New Yorker I grew up in awe of the innovative spirit surrounding Flushing Meadows Corona Park. With this event we can shine a spotlight once again on this iconic neighborhood." As Stereogum recently pointed out: "The implication here is that this is happening at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, right?" An NYC Parks spokesperson gave us the following statement today when we asked about the festival's exact location:
"The Meadows Festival is being held in the CitiField parking lot. It was not permitted by Parks and there is no overlap on city parkland. Live Nation previously submitted an application with Parks for a one day event in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, but they ultimately decided to pull their application."
Yes, as those who untangled the truth from the press release know, the festival is actually taking place in the CitiField parking lot, so you won't be seeing the green grass of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, or the Kentucky bluegrass of CitiField. You will see the same asphalt people see when they are tailgating at a sporting event, except you'll never enter the stadium.
The LiveNation crew teamed up with Founders Entertainment (the same organizers behind Governors Ball) for the event, and a rep for Founders clarified with us today when asked directly: "The Meadows is taking place within the parking area of CitiField Complex," adding, "At this point in time we are just focused on making this year’s fest a huge success for the borough of Queens, the city and all our fans."
Kanye West, The Weeknd, The 1975, Metric, Frightened Rabbit, Chairlift and more will play the Meadows festival, the final rock fest to close out the year, which has truly been a year that the music festival has tried to make an earnest comeback in New York City. Not New Jersey. Not upstate New York. But within the five boroughs. But how many of these do we really need... can't we just bring Siren back to Coney Island and call it a day?
Tagged
citifield
livenation
meadows festival
music festival
queens
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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