Gothamist headline, a bit more on the nose…
I also want to point out in the one overhead render that the old Penn Station power plant just magically moved closer to 8th Ave and then put a white AT&T Long Lines lookin building on top of it.
These people need to understand/or just always fail to understand that moving MSG is not that easy (for all the reasons always mentioned before in this thread).
It’s so bad
It seems to be some google maps 3D imagery that they altered. That just adds to the “terrible” factor.
People trying to get to their train and they have to traipse around a park to get there.
MSG is a dump. Why can’t NYC have something like the Vegas Sphere. This area has some of the most valuable real estate on Earth and rest on it is some old arena
So they just took maybe 2 pictures of their favorite parts they saw on Google Images, plopped it down, and called it a day. It’s like the architectural version of watching a show through YouTube shorts. AI could design better.
Reminds me of the ‘new twin towers’ proposals and models you’d see everywhere way back when. People acting like developers will just pause whatever plans they have and bend over backwards for the most feckless slop proposals from people with zero power over the project.
Just move MSG from atop the trains. Then we can argue about what to put there. I’m tired of being held hostage by asshole Dolan.
Build a new Garden across the street, the land has already been cleared. It actually is a better location for transit connections.
That was my plan. Put the Central Park obelisk right where the water fountain is. It’s even the same shape. Make it a twin to St Peter’s square since they have twin obelisks.
We have one of the world’s greatest obelisks sitting in Central Park where no one even knows it’s there!
Right. They could have direct access to PATH.
For the life of me I don’t understand why the Felt Forum (also known as the Theater at Madison Square Garden) has not been demolished. That would be a relatively simple step that would go a long way toward bringing sunlight into the western end of Pennsylvania Station (particularly in the afternoon hours), especially since the Moynihan building across Eighth Avenue as well as the buildings immediately to the north and south are relatively low-rise. There’s so much attention around moving Madison Square Garden itself, and rightly so, as the Knicks and Rangers are huge revenue generators, have massive fan bases, have politically connected ownership and need a centrally located arena. And that’s a difficult conversation.
But the Felt Forum is not MSG – the Felt Forum is an absurdly unimportant venue right on top of a very important and somewhat claustrophobic train station. The acts that it books – Paw Patrol Live, darts throwing contests, bands no one has heard of, etc. (see link here: Upcoming Events | New York City Events & Chicago Events) – can easily be moved to another venue in Manhattan. The Felt Forum would be missed by no one. It doesn’t have a fan base. It doesn’t build memories. It’s just there, in its awkward location tucked underneath the basketball arena. And I am sure it can be easily carved out and discarded without disrupting train service (after all, if the old Pennsylvania Station was demolished and the MSG / Penn Plaza complex was built in the 1960s without affecting passenger rail, then surely the same can be said of the Felt Forum demolition).
This is something that can be easily done within the next few years. There are already proposals in place to do this. And the best part, other than the increased sunlight, is that the removal of Felt Forum will not impede any future moves of MSG or expansion / reconstruction of Pennsylvania Station. Just get it done already!
The deletion of the theatre has been included in many proposals that keep MSG in place. This solution is likely the most realistic (and cheapest) as well. MSG could get a renovation that makes it less of an eyesore while a much nicer train hall can be built as well. It’ll be a major win since MSG doesn’t have to move and a sunlit non-basement entrance to Penn can be created.
There’s plenty of opportunities for something nice to be made without moving MSG.
These are just some examples from a variety of firms:
Yep, the most sensible option that satisfies everyone (or the most people possible)
This theater serves a function in that it is larger than the Broadway houses but smaller than the arenas. Only place of this type in Manhattan. Not saying it needs to stay there but it serves a niche especially for acts that are not as popular as they used to be and shows like Circus Soleil etc.
Is that true? Doesn’t Radio City Music Hall have a similar capacity and serve the same function?
Radio City, Beacon Theater, Palladium, Carnegie Hall, The Shed… all just in Manhattan. Slightly different functions with each, but still similar capacity.