Fate of MSG Debated at City Hearing

Madison Square Garden took its argument in favor of an open-ended permit to operate indefinitely to the city’s planning commission on Wednesday.

Opponents of the proposal want to give the arena a 10-year option that would buy the city time to rethink the arena's future atop Penn Station.

“It's so important to be thinking about building a new Penn Station and not just making some minor and cosmetic changes,” said Richard Yaro of the Regional Plan Association.

But MSG supporters, like Manhattan Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, point out that the land is owned by the arena.

“I don't know that the city's going to be in a position to tell Madison Square Garden, 'Sorry, we're going to do without having an arena in New York,'” Gottfried said.

The commission will issue its recommendation on the proposal within the next six weeks. The City Council will then vote on whether to approve the permit.