Madison Square Garden has only been given a five year extension by the full City Council on a special permit it needs to continue to sit atop Penn Station. Photo: Keith J. Kelly Finally and Officially: Full City Council Gives MSG Its Shortest Permit Ever at 5 Years Saying it was starting a countdown to force a deal on improving Penn Station, the City Council voted unanimously to give... News 14 Sep 2023 | 10:26
Renewal of a permit to allow Madison Square Garden to sit atop Penn Station for only five more years–expected to be officially approved by the City Council Sept. 14–will set off a new scramble by all stakeholders to fit a new plan into the compressed time frame. Photo: Keith J. Kelly Loose Ends: When the Full Council Finally OKs 5-yr Permit for MSG, What’s Next? The City Council is resetting the clock on the interlinked futures of Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. But virtually... News 10 Sep 2023 | 05:31
Community activist Layla Law-Gisiko ran and lost in a crowded Dem primary field trying to succeed Dick Gottfried in the New York State Assembly. But she’s had a dramatic impact on the negotiations over Madison Square Garden as a long-time CB5 member and now is the new president of the City Club. Photo: Laylaforny Civic Leader Who Shook Up Madison Square Garden: Part II This is the second in a two part series. For Part I, click here. Layla Law-Gisiko has served on community board 5 for 18 years... News 06 Sep 2023 | 01:17
CB 5 board member Layla Law-Gisiko has embraced her role as a civic activist in her adopted city. Photo: Courtesy Layla Law-Gisiko Parisian and Longtime CB5 Member Reflects on Activism that Shook Up MSG This is the first in a two part series. For Part II, click here. Born in Paris, French television sent her to New York as... News 06 Sep 2023 | 01:15
Under the plan pushed by ASTM, The Theater at Madison Square Garden on the Eighth Ave side of the arena would be purchased from MSG and demolished to make way for a new Grand Entrance to the rail hub that serves 600,000 rail commuters daily. Photo: Keith J. Kelly We Are Now the “Only Plan Left Standing,” Says Italian Developer in Wake of City Council Vote on Madison Square Garden The Italian infrastructure company that wants to rebuild Penn Station says its plan is now the only path forward after the... News 01 Sep 2023 | 02:16
The City Council Vote is a blow to Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan, who wanted the special permit extended in perpetuity. Local bars and businesses in the MSG neighborhood and even hip hop artist Run MMC were backing him, all to no avail. Photo: Flipboard via Wikimedia Commons City Council Shortens Leash on MSG, Gives It 5 Years Only on New Special Permit The City Council, caught like a dashing commuter between Madison Square Garden and Penn Station, decided that the conflicts... News 29 Aug 2023 | 12:14
Tracks Raw Bar, which already had to relocate from inside Penn Station when it was being renovated, wants the City Council to grant Madison Square Garden a new special permit that will last forever. Photo: Keith J. Kelly 11th Hr. Appeal: Local Bars, Other Small Business Owners, Urge City Council to Renew MSG’s Special Permit Forever A raft of restaurants, bars and other businesses around Madison Square Garden–saying the Garden’s crowds provided much of... News 28 Aug 2023 | 11:30
Run DMC lead singer Darryl McDaniels performing at Madison Square Garden. Photo: MSG Entertainment Run DMC Latest to Back MSG, Urges City Council to Renew Arena’s Permit “in Perpetuity” Coming up with Run-DMC, I knew the moment we made it: the 1987 kickoff of our tour with the Beastie Boys at The World’s Most... Voices 28 Aug 2023 | 11:25
Madison Square Garden, Midtown Manhattan, NYC ( Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh via Wikipedia Commons) More Turmoil as City Council Members Push Back Against a New 10 Year Permit for MSG Madison Square Garden should not be given a new permit to operate its arena above Penn Station unless the Garden’s owners... News 19 Jul 2023 | 01:50
Manhattan borough president Mark Levine addresses Community Board 5’s Land Use Committee standing behind a model of the proposed ASTM remodeling of Penn Station that would cost $6 billion. Levine says Garden should stay where it is, but end MSG tax break and pay Garden for property needed to renovate rail hub below. Photo: YouTube CB5 Boro Pres Says End MSG’s $1B Tax Break But Pay Jim Dolan for Property to Fix Penn Station Madison Square Garden has paid no property taxes on its arena since 1982, a largesse from government easily worth $50 million... News 14 Jul 2023 | 01:52
The Planning Commission is recommending renewing the special permit for Madison Square Garden for ten more years, but with conditions, including improvements to the bland signage now on display outside the The Theater at Madison Square Garden and better signage on how to find the entrance to Penn Station. Photo: Keith J. Kelly City Planning Commission Votes to Extend MSG Permit to Sit Atop Penn Station For 10 More Years The City Planning Commission voted July 12 that Madison Square Garden be given a ten-year extension of its special permit... News 12 Jul 2023 | 02:56
Madison Square Garden said it rejects a Planning Commission idea for it to give up any portion of the arena property at “below fair market value” to help rebuild Penn Station which sits under the world’s most famous arena. But it did express mild support for a plan being pursued by Italian developer ASTM to pay MSG to demolish the Eighth Ave. Theater (above) to rebuild a better Penn Station below. Photo: Keith J. Kelly MSG Blasts MTA, Says Agency Trying to Force It to Give up Land Rights for Peanuts Madison Square Garden accused the MTA and its partner railroads of improperly using the city’s land use process to force... News 26 Jun 2023 | 12:48
The original plan to rebuild Penn Station was dependant on up to ten offices buildings being built around the rail hub to finance the station, but now one of the main real estate developers, Vornado Realty Trust, is halting all but two of the towers putting a wrench into the plan pushed by Governor Hochul. Photo: Keith J. Kelly Penn Station Rebuilding Resembles Game of RISK with Feuds and Alliances Forming Building in New York is never simple. New York is now witnessing the extraordinary spectacle of public agencies fighting to... News 16 Jun 2023 | 05:39
Billy Joel and Mayor Eric Adams, pictured at a press conference that had the “Piano Man” announcing that he will be ending his decade-long MSG residency next summer. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office ( Photo via Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office) Piano Man to Say Goodbye: Billy Joel Says He’ll End Decade-Long MSG Gig in July ‘24 Billy Joel, the NYC titan of working-class city-slicker anthems ranging from “Uptown Girl” to “Moving Out (Anthony’s Song)”,... News 05 Jun 2023 | 01:01
The cover of the new MTA, Amtrak and NJ Transit “Compatibility Report on MSG.” In a united front, the big three railroad concerns now say that MSG is “not compatible” sitting atop Penn Station even though it was a deal with the foundering Pennsylvania Railroad that hatched the current MSG situation. Bombshell Report: After More than 50 Years, Railroads Now Say MSG is “Not Compatible” Atop Penn Station For half a century Madison Square Garden, the fourth arena of that name, has sat atop Penn Station like a dental cap sealing... News Alert 03 Jun 2023 | 10:27
