NEW YORK — Madison Square Garden’s location and boundaries are no longer compatible with the operation of Penn Station, the station’s three passenger operators say — a statement likely to complicate the effort by the arena’s owners to extend their permit to operate the structure.
The current Madison Square Garden, which opened in 1968, was built on land opened up by demolition of the above-ground portion of Penn Station. There has been some sentiment to relocate the Garden to allow redevelopment of the station, although arena owner MSG Entertainment is wholly opposed to relocation.
The newspaper West Side Spirit reported Friday’s release of the “Compatibility report” by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Amtrak, and NJ Transit. That report, now available at the New York Planning Commission website, says that while the Garden site plan and loading arrangements may have been compatible with the station in the 1960s, today “MSG’s existing configuration and property boundaries impose severe constraints on the station that impede the safe and efficient movement of passengers and restrict efforts to implement improvements, particularly at the street and platform levels.”
The rail agencies’ report comes just ahead of a June 7 hearing by New York’s Planning Commission to consider extending the MSG permit to operate an arena on the site. The current 10-year permit expires July 24. The New York Post explains that the permit is required to allow events at the arena’s capacity of 19,800; without it, the arena can host no more than 2,500 people.
The Spirit quotes Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA Construction and Development, as telling the MTA board that the MTA had been asked by the planning commission for a report on whether the station and arena were compatable, and says Springer told the board, “we would have to say they are not compatible and not headed in the direction of compatibility.”
The compatibility report outlines seven projects to improve Penn Station that it says require cooperation by MSG Entertainment, owner of the arena, in the form of property swaps, contributions toward costs, or other involvement. “If MSG does not agree to take the necessary steps to ensure compatibility, the required finding of compatibility may not be able to be made by the City Planning Commission and the Railroads may recommend that the new special permit not be granted,” the report states.
A representative for MSG said the company was “disappointed” by the report, “considering howe we have been cooperating throughout this process. This is the opinion of a few and not all stakeholders involved.”
The planning commission will make a recommendation to New York Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council, which will ultimately decide on the permit.
— Updated June 6 at 9 a.m. with additional details, link to full report.
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