MSG move to Hudson Yards gets negative feedback from community council, long-term fate unclear (exclusive)

A proposal to relocate Madison Square Garden to Hudson Yards moved closer to DOA status this week after the site’s community council approved the plan, Daily News has learned.

Manhattan Community Board 4 has dismissed the idea of ​​moving the Knicks and Rangers to another location because the board would prefer to see affordable housing, open space, and a public school at the location—benefits that were zoned there more than a decade ago.

View of the Hudson Yards development from the Hudson River in New York City on September 14, 2022.

“The reason the Community Council is concerned about the ideas of MSG moving to Western rail stations is because Western rail stations are where we will get all of our housing,” said Community Council 4 Chairman Geoffrey LeFrançois, who opined Council in a March 6 letter to Governor Hohul, Mayor Adams, and Councilman Eric Botcher. “The zoning of the west side is very specific. This is what is expected of use on this site.”

The relocation of the garden has become a hot topic in recent months as the state tries to redevelop the surrounding area and improve Pennsylvania Station, located under the famous sports arena.

Relocating the MSG would make the Penn Station makeover easier logistically and open up the plan to more possibilities — something many commuters and residents in the area crave, given Penn’s current feel of being underground, in a rabbit den.

But in its letter, the community council explicitly rejected a possible move to Hudson Yards.

“In 2009, Manhattan Community Council 4 negotiated housing, including permanently available housing, and green spaces, which are key elements of WRY. [western rail yard] plan,” wrote LeFrancois. “Any changes to the specified zoning and construction sites will be outside the planned area and contrary to signed agreements.”

According to State Senator Brad Hoylman-Segal, whose district covers the area, the council does not have a final say on the matter, but its opinion will no doubt carry considerable weight.

“It clearly narrows the possibilities,” he said. “Looks like this place is not going to be discussed.”

Vornado Realty Trust, which is working on a wider redevelopment of the area and plans to build several new skyscrapers there, also recently got confused when it put a hold on that wider redevelopment, citing high interest rates and a depressed real estate market.

Other locations for a potential MSG relocation may still be in play, but the company that controls the arena, MSG Entertainment Corp., has only expressed a tepid openness to entertainment, which would be logistically difficult and a potential burden on taxpayers.

Two other properties that have been placed afloat include the Sixth Avenue block and W. 34th Street south of Macy’s, as well as the current Port Authority bus terminal.

Sam Turvey, chairman of ReThink Penn Station, which pushed for MSG’s move, said the site next to Macy’s and Herald Square has more “momentum” that would bring The Garden closer to Grand Central and the PATH train closer to New York. Jersey.

“This is the best place,” he said, “but it will take money to make it all work.”

This appears to be a major sticking point for MSG Entertainment, which will likely require significant incentives to give up the place it owns and get tax breaks.

“Had we been presented with a realistic plan, located downtown, within easy reach of public transportation, and taking into account the $8.5 billion in public funding that Empire State Development estimates would be required to relocate the Garden, we would certainly listen,” a MSG spokesperson said. “But it just didn’t happen.

Receiving such a handout from Empire State Development, the government agency overseeing the Penn Station plan, is also unlikely, given that James Dolan, who controls MSG Entertainment, is under fire both in general and in city and state political circles.

Dolan has made enemies over the years for a number of reasons, including Knicks great Charles Oakley being kicked out of The Garden and using facial recognition technology to weed out ticket holders who have pending litigation. against MSG.

Then there are the tax breaks the Garden is getting — something Hoylman-Segal is trying to do away with with Albany’s recently floating bill.

“I don’t want to consider moving to Madison Square Garden until they start paying property taxes,” he said.

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