Latest off and ons about MSG and rebuilding of Penn station.
One-block taxiway is sticking point in $7B redesign of Penn Station (msn.com)
Madison Square Garden had a 50 year lease, and it has already been extended once. If MSG continues to hinder Penn Station redevelopment, then they just should not renew the lease and evict them.
And watch the teams that play at MSG take a walk to greener pastures, like the Dodgers and the Giants did. From the City's viewpoint it's a lot more complex then the simple minded " evict them".
Innumerable studies have shown the supposed benefits from having a pro team in your city are minor at best. Any jobs they create locally are minimum wage things like hawking hotdogs in the stands. The big money - players and management - goes out of town and whether they spend or invest it in the host city is questionable. On the other hand, the boosters will claim that having a pro team puts you "on the map" which aids tourism and getting conventions. (Which NYC, with two other basketball and one other hockey team - not to mention two each MLB and NFL franchises - would still have). Of course the fans aren't thinking economics at all. You can probably argue that Brooklyn had its heart ripped out when the Dodgers left and has never recovered - despite parts of it becoming a home for yuppies and hipsters (whom the long time residents hardly consider to be true Brooklynites). Would that translate into votes?
You could also ask where the Knicks and Rangers would go. Certainly, no place that offers revenue opportunities like NYC. Maybe across the river to New Jersey? Connecticut? The Hartford NHL franchise couldn't make a go of it (probably too many Boston fans in the area who weren't going to desert the Bruins). Closer to New York City? So you're going to become the New Haven Knicks? Really?
The Monyhan Edifice across Eith Avenue is enough of a showpiece to rival GCT if a showpiece building is really needed. Randolph Street, Chicago, seeds to function quite wrll without being a showpiece building. LIRR, Amtrak's, NJT's, and soon Metro-North-Conn-DOT's needs can easily be satisfied without evicting MSG. It's not just sports. It's a very useful convention center, and hopefully the revived Ringling Brothers will return. The animals may be gone(?), but the high wire act and the human cannonball will be enough to attract any child, including children in their 90s. No, I did not design MSG's sound system, but do remember it as a good one.
NYC also has the Javits Center, which is much better for conventions (designed for that purpose) and two MLB facilities who could host the circus - under the Big Top, like the Gods intended, not in a building. And if it has to be in a building, it sets up shop in Brooklyn where the Nets play.
The problem is that the underground maze is so terrible, everyone who has to use it hates it. Their solutuion is to stop rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, tear down the faux "MSG" (never replace the real MSG of legend), rip out what currently exists and build a modern, user friendly facility
Wasn't there a plan for a new MSG over the Hudson yards? What became of that?
For special events, like a major party political convention, MSG can seat 20,789
Javits Center's Special E#vents Hall seats 3800.
And Barclay Center seats 19000 for concerts and conventions. Brooklyn is still part of NYC last time I looked and is more convenient to the airports (and like it or not, most conventioneers are going to fly). The difference is negligible.
Bafcley Center - completely forgot abot it. You are correct. Should fill the bill perhaps even better than MSG.
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