NEW YORK CITY-Another voice has come down on the side of limiting Madison Square Garden's lease—and ultimately moving the facility—in an effort to make Penn Station all that it can be. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer on Wednesday issued uniform land use review procedure recommendations that would limit Madison Square Garden's special-use permit to ten years, rather than allowing the facility to stay put “in perpetuity.”
Making that happen would equip Penn Station for the future, according to Stringer. “It is time to build a more spacious, attractive and efficient station that will further encourage transit use, reduce driving into the city and spur economic growth throughout our city and our region,” he says in the announcement. “While we need to ensure the Garden always has a vibrant and accessible home in Manhattan, moving the arena is an important first step to improving Penn Station.”
The recommendation is part of Stringer's call for a Moynihan-Penn Station master plan, which would “spur economic development and transportation growth,” according to the announcement. Moynihan station refers to existing plans to move Amtrak and some other operations into the Post Office's James A. Farley Building, across 8th Avenue.
The announcement focused on the need to move MSG and to update Penn Station rather than specific improvements that are needed. However, the press release did say “a master plan would encourage the transformation of the station's surrounding sites, many of which are underutilized, one-story commercial buildings,” and it would “allow density from the station site to be used in the surrounding area as a financing mechanism, potentially to accommodate Madison Square Garden in a more appropriate location.
Rail systems and their usage at Penn are expected to grow exponentially over the next 10 years, setting the antiquated station up for a log jam if improvements aren't made. Those changes would be impossible to make if MSG stays put, the announcement states.
“A key to improving Penn Station's capacity is expansion at the track level—where the narrowness of the platforms limits the number of trains that can service the station at one time, causing delays for passengers and transit agencies alike,” the announcement explains. “Unfortunately, the Borough President noted, improvements on the track level are limited by the existence of Madison Square Garden since support columns for the arena run through Penn Station to its track level. In order to reconfigure and widen the platforms, the columns would have to be moved, which cannot feasibly be done with Madison Square Garden sitting above.”
Stringer is not the only supporter of efforts to improve Penn Station and, as part of that, to move the Garden. Last week, it was reported that the Municipal Art Society and the Regional Plan Association jointly announced support for the Garden to enjoy one final decade of tenancy before a relocation.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
