Battle brews over MSG
Owners aim to renew permit, but city wants concessions
The company that controls Madison Square Garden has filed an application to continue operating the storied arena — setting in motion a lengthy process that Mayor Adams said earlier this week the city would be a “hard negotiator” on.
The application, submitted Wednesday night to the city’s Planning Department, is thin on substance when it comes to potential improvements to the location and essentially glosses over the city’s request that it weigh the state’s long-term efforts to drastically improve Penn Station, which is located directly under the Garden.
The renewal move comes as the arena’s current 10-year operating permit is set to expire on July 24 and as policy makers mull the possibility of relocating MSG to Hudson Yards, which is further west, to make way for improvements to Penn.
MSG Entertainment Corp. is seeking a new permit that would remain in place “in perpetuity.”
“Calls from various parties that link the extension of the permit with an opportunity to move The Garden are misguided,” the company said Thursday in a written statement. “The fact is MSG Entertainment has full ownership of the arena, the land it sits on, and the air above it — there is no public lease of any kind.”
The city and state have little leverage when it comes to forcing MSG to move in order to make improvements to Penn Station more feasible, with any efforts to do so likely to drag out in protracted legal battles.
Adams has oscillated a bit on the idea of moving the Garden. Last September, he said he was “open” to the idea. But earlier this week, Adams said he’s “happy with it being there.”
While the mayor made clear that he intends to drive a hard bargain with the Garden, he hasn’t yet said publicly what the city would like in exchange for granting a permit renewal.
“We’re going to be a hard negotiator for the people of the city to get the best deal,” Adams said Tuesday. “But it’s not going to be based on the win-loss record of the New York Knicks.”
The application from the Garden’s parent company also comes amid the latest backlash against its head, CEO James Dolan, who’s been taking heat for using facial recognition technology to bar lawyers waging lawsuits against MSG from entering the arena.
Last month, the state Attorney General Letitia James responded to the Garden’s use of facial recognition technology with a demand for “justifications for the company’s policies.”
Dolan has had a long and notoriously strained relationship with Big Apple sports fans, especially Knicks supporters. They’ve faulted him for the Knicks not making it to the NBA Finals for decades, banning Knicks great Charles Oakley from MSG and letting point guard Jeremy Lin flee to the Houston Rockets.
And while presumably none of that will factor into the permitting renewal process, it certainly doesn’t hurt the city when it comes to trying to exact concessions from MSG in granting the permit.
The Garden’s current application shows that past changes to the operating permit included commitments to provide upgrades to the site for the public good. In 1989, the permit was modified to “facilitate the refurbishment of the arena and other upgrades” and in 2013, after the first 50-year permit expired, the new agreement provided for “enhancements to pedestrian-accessible open areas” and “several flashing and static signs for the arena.”
The Garden’s latest permit application also highlights new proposals for “further enhancements,” but those appear to be minor and include “high-quality decorative pavers,” “high-quality planter benches” and 20 bicycle racks.
Perhaps more importantly, MSG’s application doesn’t do much to address the city Planning Department’s most pressing concern in the neighborhood, Penn Station.
In recommendations filed with the MSG application, the Planning Department asks MSG to consider the train station’s importance as a gateway into the city, as well as “proposed improvements” to Penn.
In response to that request, MSG acknowledges that the MTA has completed a Penn Station Master Plan study, but states that the Planning Department’s finding “is not applicable” because “the MTA has not yet obtained the requisite public approvals, financing, or property interests for implementation of this proposal.”
John McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of external relations, responded that any renewal of the Garden’s permits “must at minimum ensure that MSG will provide space and resources necessary for the reconstruction” of Penn Station as envisioned in the master plan created by not just the MTA, but Amtrak and NJ Transit as well.
“That plan details the basic changes necessary to transform Penn Station into a 21st century transportation facility, which will benefit all parties including MSG,” he added. “Commitments by MSG to facilitate and support these improvements should be secured as part of any extension process.”