Oak Ridge has a Dutch Colonial roofline and a clubhouse layout, and no golf course is attached to it. The building went up in 1905 as the Forest Park Golf Clubhouse, designed by Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell. When the course was cut back in the early 1920s, the clubhouse ended up separated from the greens it was built to serve. Today it is Forest Park's administrative headquarters. This October it also hosts most of the park's indoor programming.
From mid-October into the first day of November, the Forest Park Trust's events calendar books Oak Ridge for a craft workshop, two Sunday concerts and a Day of the Dead celebration. The Sunday shows start at 3 p.m., the same time the park's bandshell concerts used for decades.
A Clubhouse That Outlived Its Purpose
The building has had a second career for a long time. Beyond the park offices, the Trust rents Oak Ridge for private events. The first floor has a Trophy Room and the second floor a Banquet Room, with a combined capacity of 120 guests and rentals of up to seven hours.
That size sets the tone for the fall season. The October concerts ask for advance registration on Eventbrite, and doors open at 2:30 p.m. for a 3 p.m. start. For anyone who has stood at the back of a summer crowd, these shows put the musicians within a few rows.
The 3 p.m. Sunday Slot Belongs to the Bandshell Era
Forest Park's free-concert tradition is older than the bandshell. George Seuffert Sr.'s band started it in 1898, and the bandshell that now carries his name opened in 1924, dedicated to civic leader Harry Tourte. QNS's history of the bandshell reports that the Seuffert Band played there for decades, often on summer Sundays at 3 p.m. The Queens Symphony Orchestra kept the free concerts going after 1995.
The October 2026 shows use the same Sunday afternoon slot:
- Sunday, Oct. 18, 3 to 4 p.m.: Berto Reyes y Su Perico Ripiao plays traditional Dominican merengue on güira, drum and accordion.
- Sunday, Oct. 25, 3 to 4 p.m., at Oak Ridge: Wayne Tucker and the Bad Mothas perform a tribute to Marshal and Ernie Royal of Ozone Park.
- Sunday, Nov. 1, 3 to 4 p.m., at Oak Ridge: a free Day of the Dead Celebration with Mariachi Real de Mexico.
The Oct. 25 program has the closest local tie. Tucker is a New York trumpeter, vocalist and bandleader who has recorded with Jay-Z, the Roots and Jon Batiste. He will play his own music alongside music by Marshal and Ernie Royal of Ozone Park, Queens. On the Forest Park Trust's event listing, Tucker describes his approach this way:
"I think my music is 100% vulnerable. I'm unafraid to express that true uniqueness."
The Nov. 1 celebration marks 35 years for Mariachi Real de Mexico. Ramon Ponce and his son Ramon Ponce Jr. founded the group in 1991, and the Trust describes it as GRAMMY-winning. Teaching artists from Queens College will run a community ofrenda, face painting and children's crafts. Council Member Joann Ariola and the Forest Park Trust sponsor the Oak Ridge programs.
Seventeen Days on One Calendar
The Sunday concerts make up only part of the season. Here is the full stretch from the Trust's and NYC Parks' calendars, plus the Halloween event at Juniper Valley Park in neighboring Middle Village:
| Date | Event | Time | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Oct. 16 | Restoration Fridays | 10 a.m. to noon | Buddy Monument | Advance registration required |
| Sat, Oct. 17 | Fall Fest 2026 | Noon to 3 p.m. | Victory Field | Free; crafts, music, pumpkin patch |
| Sun, Oct. 18 | Berto Reyes y Su Perico Ripiao | 3 to 4 p.m. | Forest Park | Eventbrite registration |
| Tue, Oct. 20 | Winter Lanterns 2026 | 3 to 4:30 p.m. | Oak Ridge | Register in advance |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Highland Park Horticulture Helpers | 10 a.m. to noon | Jamaica Ave. and Linwood St. | Registration required |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Juniper Valley Park Halloween events | See below | Middle Village | Free |
| Sun, Oct. 25 | Wayne Tucker and the Bad Mothas | 3 to 4 p.m. | Oak Ridge | Doors 2:30 p.m. |
| Fri, Oct. 30 | Restoration Fridays | 10 a.m. to noon | Buddy Monument | Advance registration required |
| Sun, Nov. 1 | Day of the Dead with Mariachi Real de Mexico | 3 to 4 p.m. | Oak Ridge | Free; community ofrenda |
Fall Fest on Oct. 17 is the one large outdoor gathering in Forest Park this month. NYC Parks lists it as free, and the Trust lists crafts, music, performances and a pumpkin patch on Victory Field. Winter Lanterns, three days later, moves indoors. Participants decorate handmade lanterns from recycled materials in the Oak Ridge building, and the Trust bills it as "back by popular demand."
The two published listings for Oct. 24 at Juniper Valley Park don't fully match. NYC Parks lists a free Fall Festival from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Multipurpose Play Area, known as the Hard Top. The Queens Chronicle reports a free Halloween Festival and Trunk or Treat from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Decorated cars will line 80th Street between Juniper Boulevard North and South. Council Member Phil Wong is hosting, continuing a tradition his predecessor Bob Holden started. Partners include NYC Parks and the Greater Ridgewood Youth Council, and the New York & Atlantic Railway is contributing funds. The Chronicle says anyone who wants to volunteer a car can call Wong's office at (718) 366-3900 through Oct. 15. Families planning around a specific start time can confirm with that office.
Friday Mornings Go Into the Woods
The weekday events on the calendar are work sessions. Restoration Fridays on Oct. 16 and Oct. 30 meet at Buddy Monument for invasive species removal, trail restoration and possible planting. The Trust asks for sturdy closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get dirty. The Horticulture Helpers session on Oct. 23 takes place in Highland Park, Forest Park's sister park, where volunteers weed, water and tend planted beds. Tools are provided.
These sessions connect to the park's longer maintenance plan. A presentation to Queens Community Board 5 in May 2026 covered ongoing ecological restoration, invasive species management, drainage and erosion control, closing informal "social" trails, and volunteer trail upkeep across the sister parks. The Friday morning crews are part of that work.
The Trails Between Events
The forest those crews maintain is the reason fall in this park looks the way it does. The Trust calls it the most continuous oak forest in Queens: 165 acres protected as "Forever Wild," with oak and tulip trees around 150 years old. Three marked loops run through it:
- Yellow Trail, 1 mile: starts near Metropolitan Avenue off Forest Park Drive and circles the northern section past a well-known vernal pond, a good spot for migrating songbirds.
- Blue Trail, 1.75 miles: starts on Forest Park Drive off Woodhaven Boulevard and crosses the bridle path and the Orange Trail.
- Orange Trail, 2.4 miles: starts at Memorial and Forest Park Drive, follows the forest perimeter and passes through the Pine Grove.
The Pine Grove dates to 1914, when 2,500 pine trees from the park's nursery were planted near the 109th Street and Myrtle Avenue entrance in memory of local World War I veterans. Most are Eastern White Pines. Volunteers added 100 more pines for the park's 1998 centennial, which created four new stands. For a shorter walk, Strack Pond is a reclaimed kettle pond with a quarter-mile loop. Its entrances are across from the Bandshell parking lot and off Woodhaven Boulevard.
Some paths are new this year. NYC Parks' capital tracker shows Forest Park Path Reconstruction Phase 2 started construction in May 2026 and finished in June 2026, ahead of its projected July completion, with $1.32 million in funding. If you're walking the longer Brooklyn–Queens Greenway segment through the park, NYC Parks' greenway guide warns against crossing the Jackie Robinson Parkway roadway because of a blind curve and fast traffic. It points walkers to the walkway and Forest Park Drive instead.
What Changes After October
Several pieces of the park are still under construction or in design. NYC Parks' tracker lists the Forest Park Greenhouse Palm House Reconstruction as active, 44 percent complete as of its last update, with an adjusted completion date of October 2026 and $3.385 million in funding. The Barking Lot dog run reconstruction is halfway through design, with a target of March 2027. A Forest Park Entrances Reconstruction, which includes ramps along Park Lane near the Overlook, entered design in April 2026 and is projected to finish design in April 2027.
The golf course, which the old clubhouse once served, also shifts its schedule as the days get shorter. Under the NYC Parks golf rate schedule effective April 1, 2026, the full 18-hole rate cutoff moves from 2 p.m. to 1 p.m. from November through March, and twilight rates begin at 3 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. Tee times for the course at 101 Forest Park Drive can be booked online up to 10 days ahead.
The last date on this season's Oak Ridge calendar is Nov. 1. The Mariachi Real de Mexico show starts at 3 p.m., doors open at 2:30, and registration is through Eventbrite.
John O'Kane has worked in the neighborhoods around Forest Park, from Glendale and Middle Village to Woodhaven and Richmond Hill, for more than 35 years, and he follows how changes in the park play out on the streets around it. If you own near the park and want a clear read on your property, John O'Kane offers a direct, no-pressure conversation. Call John for a consultation.
