[5] The current name comes from the Cord Meyer Development Company, which bought 660 acres (270 ha) in central Queens in 1906 and renamed it after Forest Park.

[4]: 469 In 1906, the Cord Meyer Development Company, headed by Brooklyn attorney Cord Meyer, bought abutting land made up of six farms (those of Ascan Bakus, Casper Joost-Springsteen, Horatio N. Squire, Abram V. S. Lott, Sarah V. Bolmer, and James Van Siclen).

Each house was built from approximately 170 standardized precast concrete panels, fabricated off-site and positioned by crane.

[11] The LIRR station was built with a brick courtyard, a clock tower, and arch-filled underpasses, fitting in with the Forest Hills Gardens section of the neighborhood.

[4]: 470  Since the railroad and trolley both connected to Manhattan, the presence of these two transportation options spurred development in Forest Hills.

[4]: 469 [12] The U.S. Open and its predecessor national championships were held there until 1978, making Forest Hills synonymous with tennis for generations.

[18] Zoning laws were changed to allow fifteen-story apartment buildings to be built,[19] and made the neighborhood of Forest Hills a more desirable place to live, especially as it was an express stop.

Mario Cuomo, a lawyer and the future Governor of New York, was assigned to mediate the dispute and succeeded in halving the size of the project.

[28] In 2018, an estimated 16% of Forest Hills and Rego Park residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City.

Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Forest Hills and Rego Park is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

South of the Long Island Rail Road, the Forest Hills Gardens area is a private community that features some of the most expensive residential properties in Queens County.

Teardowns and their replacement with larger single family residences has had a significant impact on the architectural integrity of the area.

[35][36] Philip Birnbaum and Alfred Kaskel also designed and constructed numerous apartment buildings scattered throughout Forest Hills.

Birnbaum and Kaskel's buildings largely remain standing, and are distinguished by their spacious lobbies, interior courtyards with fountains, curved brick corner terraces, and sunlit exposures.

A pivotal scene in Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 film Strangers on a Train, in which the main character (played by Farley Granger) is a professional tennis player, features a lengthy championship game at the club, with distinctive shots of the surrounding community.

[citation needed] The tennis stadium, which hosted numerous music concerts including The Beatles before the U.S. Open departed for Flushing Meadows, resumed hosting music concerts during the summer of 2013 when the British rock band Mumford & Sons played there to an overflowing crowd.

Two monuments are erected in Forest Hills Gardens: One is a tribute to the victims of World War I, and the other is the mast of the Columbia, the winner of the America's Cup yacht races in both 1899 and 1901.

[citation needed] The Church-in-the-Gardens, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and United States Post Office are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[39] Forest Hills and Rego Park are patrolled by the 112th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 68-40 Austin Street.

[25]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Forest Hills and Rego Park is 0.0075 milligrams per cubic metre (7.5×10−9 oz/cu ft), equal to the city average.

[25]: 13  In Forest Hills and Rego Park, 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.

[47] Forest Hills and Rego Park generally have a higher percentage of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update].

[48] Forest Hills and Rego Park's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City.

[26]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [25]: 6  Additionally, 91% of high school students in Forest Hills and Rego Park graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

[63][64][65] Also located in Forest Hills is Yeshiva Gedolah Lubavitch, an ultra orthodox Chabad high school and branch of Tomchei Temimim.

It closed in February 2017 after failing to meet standards set by the New York State Education Department Board of Regents and losing its accreditation.

A shuttered entrance at 78th Avenue, which previously lead to Willow Lake and provided pedestrian access to neighboring Kew Gardens Hills has been closed since 2001.

The band was recognized with the designation in 2017 of Ramones Way at 67th Avenue and 110th Street, in front of Forest Hills High School.

Paul Simon returned once again to Forest Hills Stadium in 2016 during his Homeward Bound farewell tour.

[100] Billy Eichner wrote the parody song "Forest Hills State of Mind" about the neighborhood.