from a decision by the New York City Council

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/nyregion/madison-square-garden-is-told-to-move.html?_r=2&

Quote :

" Madison Square Garden, home to the Knicks, the Rangers, the Ice Capades, the circus and the “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971, received an eviction notice of sorts on Wednesday. Connect With NYTMetro Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for news and conversation. . The New York City Council notified the arena that it has 10 years to vacate its 45-year-old premises and find a new home, the Garden’s fifth since it opened in 1879. By a vote of 47 to 1, the Council voted to extend the Garden’s special operating permit for merely a decade — not in perpetuity, as the owners of the Garden had requested, or 15 years, as the Bloomberg administration had intended. Ten years should be enough time, officials said, for the Garden to find a new location and for the city to devise plans for an expanded Pennsylvania Station, which currently sits below the Garden, and the redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhood. “This is the first step in finding a new home for Madison Square Garden and building a new Penn Station that is as great as New York and suitable for the 21st century,” said Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker. “This is an opportunity to reimagine and redevelop Penn Station as a world-class transportation destination.” Ms. Quinn renewed her call for the creation of a commission to devise the plans. Civic leaders and some developers have long sought to rebuild Penn Station, a cramped and crowded maze for the more than 500,000 people a day who traverse it. But doing so would be an enormously complicated, multibillion-dollar undertaking that has foiled officials in the past. And anything can happen in the next 10 years, including several elections for mayor and governor. James L. Dolan, who controls the Garden, the Knicks and the Rangers, offered a low-key response to the news that barely acknowledged the 10-year deadline. Mr. Dolan expects to complete this fall a $968 million overhaul of the Garden, which has been closing in its off-seasons to accommodate the work. “Madison Square Garden has operated at its current site for generations, and has been proud to bring New Yorkers some of the greatest and most iconic moments in sports and entertainment,” Mr. Dolan’s company said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. “We now look forward to the reopening of the arena in the fall of 2013.” Mr. Dolan announced the latest renovation of the Garden in 2008, just after the last $14 billion effort to move the Garden and transform the train station collapsed amid a severe recession, insufficient financing, an absence of political leadership and overreaching by the developers selected for the job. Late last year, the Regional Plan Association and the Municipal Art Society used the Garden’s application for an extension of its permit to resurrect the idea. The Bloomberg administration recommended a 15-year extension. But that city proposal also allowed the city’s Planning Department to further extend the permit if officials failed to come up with plans for a new station, and the Garden and the transit operators agreed on a plan for improved access to the station. “Our goal from the outset was to improve Penn Station. In fact, our proposal would have required government leaders to come together and develop a plan to do just that,” said Julie Wood, a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Critics derided the Bloomberg administration for including what they described as a loophole. Ms. Quinn, who is a Democratic candidate for mayor, called instead for a firm 10-year extension. Bill de Blasio and John C. Liu, two other candidates, also called on the Garden to move. Joseph J. Lhota, a Republican candidate and a former executive at the Garden, and William C. Thompson Jr., a Democrat, backed the Garden. "

7/25/2013 12:32:18 PM

Never been to Penn Station. Is it really that bad?

7/25/2013 12:34:23 PM

it's not that bad

7/25/2013 1:46:16 PM

Compare it to what they tore down for MSG and it is.

7/25/2013 1:59:51 PM

Kind of bullshit that Dolan just drop $1B into MSG and may only get 10 years to recoup his investment. I mean it's his fault for spending that money without some kind of long term lease, but still seems pretty shitty. I am sure they'll figure out something to push this past 10 years.

7/25/2013 2:12:39 PM

No way this actually ends up being ten years. Carry on.

7/25/2013 2:14:12 PM

Old Penn station was amazing looking based on photography/movies I've seen.

New Penn station feels like an airport.

7/25/2013 4:58:51 PM

wonder how modern-day Paul Kinsey feels about this

7/25/2013 5:39:31 PM

get ready for the jersey city knicks and staten island rangers

seriously though build an arena out on 11th ave and get some subway infrastructure out there

[Edited on July 25, 2013 at 8:55 PM. Reason : .]

7/25/2013 8:54:11 PM

wonder how this potential news will affect the ACC's plans to move the bball tourney up there

7/25/2013 9:00:33 PM

new penn station feels like airport at times and at other times feels like a nuclear shelter for when the soviets bomb.

7/25/2013 9:18:45 PM

It will be interesting to see if anything actually comes of this. It's a pretty easy feel good move for the city to "only" extend this permit for 10 years while saying "Now we can fix Penn Station!" It's another thing for them to actually be able to come up with a viable plan to fund what would be one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country. I hope it happens, but there are a lot of things that need to be sorted out first. I suspect that in 10 years the Garden will still be there and will be getting another permit extension.

Quote :

"Never been to Penn Station. Is it really that bad?"

It's pretty terrible. For the busiest train station in North America it's a shameful facility and has significant overcrowding problems. It's a facility that was originally designed for 200,000 people a day and is now moving closer to 500,000

Unfortunately, even if they were able to renovate/rebuild Penn Station, they would only be fixing half of the problem. The other half has to do with capacity in the Hudson River tunnels. There are only two tunnels with one track each that were built over 100 years ago, which completely chokes the entire Northeast Corridor. There was a NY/NJ project to build a new tunnel that was already in the construction phase when Governor Christie canceled it three years ago.

7/25/2013 11:15:40 PM

Quote :

"Compare it to what they tore down for MSG and it is."

Amen. I'm way too young to have ever been there, but the original Penn Station was perhaps the grandest train station in the country, in an era where train stations were some of the grandest buildings in any given town. Demolished over the objections of thousands, perhaps millions, of people and replaced by the underground warren that is the current Penn Station and the (architecturally) undistinguished cylinder that is Madison Square Garden.

I'm aware of the history of the current MSG and I'm a Rangers fan, but I say tear it the hell down. Give Penn Station a facility that captures one-tenth the majesty of its predecessor and it'll be a great thing for the city.

7/25/2013 11:56:49 PM

The demolition of the orignal Penn Station for construction of MSG was a complete travesty and is one of the reasons the NYC Landmark Commission was formed to protect historic buildings. Looking at record drawings/plans and old photos of the original Penn with carriage houses and grand spaces is pretty cool (and sad).

Kind-of crazy to think of MSG moving in 10 years considering all of the on-going construction for renovations nearing $1B. I would be happy to see Penn brought back to its original glory though.

Across the street, Phase 1 for Moynihan Station is currently in construction (expansion of Penn Station into the historic Farley Post Office Building bound by 8th, 9th Aves and 31st, 33rd Streets). Phase 1 includes reconstruction of the West End Concourse for the LIRR, pedestrian plazas and station entrances at the Farley Building on 8th Ave, track/platform/escalator expansions, track ventilation, etc. Construction of the new grand concourse within the Farley Building and entrances at 9th Ave and midblock won't happen until Phase 2 & 3... pending funding of course.

Original Penn:






[Edited on July 26, 2013 at 12:21 AM. Reason : []

7/26/2013 12:15:54 AM