Forest Hills Stadium Gates Renamed In Honor Of Late Queens NYPD Chief

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — When Deputy Chief Steven J. Silks assumed the role of Queens North Patrol Chief in 2013, the Forest Hills Stadium was in the midst of a rebirth.

The all-but-abandoned music venue had just come under new promotion at the time, and high-profile acts slowly started returning to the stadium once graced by legends like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan.

Crucial in this effort was Chief Silks, who, in his role leading the police force throughout a large swath of northern Queens, helped to coordinate police and community efforts at the stadium, treating artists and fans alike like "members of his own family," organizers recall.

Then, on June 5, 2019, Silks shot himself in the head ahead of his 63rd birthday, rocking Forest Hills and a Police Department then contending with a series of officer suicides. He was remembered as an avid outdoorsman and storyteller who always shoveled his neighbors' walks.

Three years after his death, Silks is being memorialized again, this time on the gate of the Forest Hills event venue he helped revive, now renamed the Deputy Chief Steven J. Silks Memorial Gate.

"As an important founding member of The Forest Hills Stadium home team, we are honored to acknowledge our friend’s legacy and impact on all those who pass through this gate," reads the plaque on the gate, emblazoned with Silks's name and face.

The gate was renamed and dedicated to Silks last month at a ceremony attended by dozens of members of the Police Department, photos show.

"[Silks] ensured that The Stadium would be an institution that the Forest Hills community could celebrate and be proud of," reads a social media post recapping the ceremony.

The gate renaming comes amid a packed summer lineup at Forest Hills Stadium, as artists flock to the outdoor venue, some for their first performances since the pandemic.