The Garden as we know it

[Greyvtrayn]

NY City Council votes to limit the MSG lease above Penn Station to 10 years. The plan is to overhaul/renovate Penn Station and they decided it couldn't be done with MSG on top of it. So in 10 years the Garden will close it's doors and the Rangers (Knicks too but who cares) will be playing in a completely different arena. I'll bet Dolan is psyched this vote happened at the tail end of a $1B three year renovation project paid for entirely with private funds...first time in a LONG time I've felt empathy for someone in that position.

 

[theProdigy223]

Yeah Dolan just got screwed but then again alot of people familiar with the situation have said he really went all out with the renovations and drove up costs to try to use the final total as leverage to get the council to let him stay. The renovation didnt need to be this costly, he gambled and lost.

 

[dumpstralmannow]

I'll never feel sorry for Cable companies. They are crooks. Besides, when they build a new garden, the tax payers will be paying for it. Let them go nuts on the idiot train people.

 

[NYR31]

Dump is right. Whatever Dolan "loses" when they have to move, he'll more than get it back when it's the city that builds them a new arena.

 

[puck2]

no way NYC ponies up any money to build an arena for Dolan. Those days are over. Only land left to build is on western part of Manhattan. Dolan will fight tooth and nails to stay where he is. Very few options in Manhattan

 

[Messiah717]

Dolan is a moron. Sorry Jim but MSG is not going to win out over a massive transportation hub. He should've built something on a brand new site.

 

[dumpstralmannow]

You're lost Puck. Yes they will. They aren't going to wake up one day and say, the city will no longer have MSG, the Knicks, Rangers and all the concerts that go with it.

 

[Greyvtrayn]

It'll be very interesting to see where the Garden ends up. Considering the convenience of having it located above the hub of mass transit in NYC for the last 50+ years I feel like they are going to be looking for a similar location. Good thing is with the way construction projects go in metro-NY it'll only be 3 or 4 years MAX before they start 'breaking ground' on the new location. Interesting points raised on the tax payer implications too.

 

[puck2]

if they are forced out of current location, highly unlikely they will find as perfect location, western side by Hudson River only real option, which means a long subway or taxi ride. This would be devastating blow to Garden, being they just sunk a billion into MSG upgrade. If this all came to pass, Dolan would look into other area's Queens, Staten Island, Bronx, Nassua etc. Bank on it.

 

[Ranger71]

Hey, maybe the Nassau Coliseum will still be usuable!haha jk The New York DolanWangs!

 

[Puckmeat]

DolanWangs! Hilarious.

Seriously though, all this means for me is now its really time to start saving up to get out and see one more game at MSG. I got to go see them in the mid 90's sometime (can't remember the year or the score, just that they played the Devils, stupid younger brother liking the wrong damn team...) then I moved. Saw them twice in Chicago, those I remember. Saw Darren Langdon beat the shit out of somebody. It was awesome.

Probably not this season though, too far, too poor, lol. Next season though, different story. I need to get a new hat, and I only get Rangers hats at MSG. I got the one I wear now in 1994, its older than some of the kids I work with (and in better shape and cleaner!). My aunt lives a few blocks from there and we'd go there from time to time, but she can't understand sports, so I never really got to hang around and look at all the cool stuff that's there.

Holy crap, this turned into a huge ramble. Lol

 

[Greyvtrayn]

For some reason, I went back to the beginnings of this board to see what/who we were all talking about following the move from ESPN. This was the first thread I noticed that I created. I don't even remember this being a thing and certainly haven't heard anything about it since the last post so I thought I'd look online for any new info considering it's been nearly 11 years since...
https://abc7ny.com/madison-square-garden-special-permit-penn-station-new-york-city-council/13783372/

So this was last Summer. Looking back it seems silly to believe that the Garden would be moved even 50 feet let alone completely away from Penn Station. Even now, with only 4 years remaining on their permit I can't envision MSG being anywhere else and suspect that they will continue to receive these multi-year special permits from City Council in perpetuity.
It is pretty funny going all the way back to the Summer of 2013 and reading some of the topics/posts.

 

[Stepupstepan]

Someone has too much free time on their hands lol

 

[Greyvtrayn]

HAHA