New York’s Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks and the Rangers, has 10 years to move, lawmakers decided Wednesday. The New York City Council voted 47-1 to cap Madison Square Garden’s permit to 10 years so that the busy Penn Station could be renovated.
The arena’s owners had hoped to continue operating without any deadline, while city planners were suggesting a 15-year deadline, notes The Asscoiated Press.
But lawmakers agreed with the Alliance for a New Penn Station, which said that Penn Station needs improvements as soon as possible. The group praised the council, saying that it “has made clear that now is time to get to work and build the Penn Station that New York City and the region desperately need in order to improve transit access and spur economic growth in the city and throughout the region.”
Madison Square Garden Co. spokeswoman Kim Kerns noted that the owners are currently making renovations to the arena that cost up to $1 billion.
“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,” Kerns said.
According to The NY Daily News, council members said that the time limit could be extended, though.
“Madison Square Garden will have to move, and I think this permit sends the message that that work needs to begin now,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn commented. “We need to make sure Penn Station becomes what we need it to be, a really 21st century grand entrance into the greatest city in the world, not ... what Sen. [Daniel] Moynihan or others historically described as a bunch of rat tunnels that lead people in and out of the city every day.”
Madison Square Garden opened in 1968 and sits directly on top of Penn Station, the busiest passenger train station in the country. Advocates say that it will be impossible to give the dingy station a facelift as long as the Garden is there.
image: Wikimedia Commons
