New York City’s Department of City Planning is recommending that Madison Square Garden get a new permit to operate above Penn Station — with a major caveat: Owner James Dolan will have to cooperate with the MTA and other railroads to rebuild the transit hub below.
The requirement is one in a package of concessions that the Adams administration wants the DCP and City Council to demand from Dolan, in exchange for extending allowing MSG to operate for another 10 years.
The provision will allow the city to require Dolan turn over portions of the above-ground complex to the Metropolitan Transportation Association — which is leading the redesign and reconstruction effort — if critical to overhauling the station.
The MTA has yet to finalize its designs and a private company, ASTM Group, launched an effort to win the work earlier this spring.
NYC Councilman Daniel Garodnick – who is also the director of DCP – is recommending planning commissioners and city lawmakers demand improvements to the area surrounding MSG as the MTA works to finalize a larger overhaul.
Known as “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” MSG has agreed to stop parking trucks on 33rd Street for loading and unloading and to develop a plan with the City Department of Transportation to better manage the big rigs within six months of getting the new permit.
Additionally, Dolan will be required to make significant changes to the 8th Avenue side of the station while the MTA cooks up its more comprehensive overhaul — including new entrances on the corners and a new mural made of high-tech materials to bring new life to the current monotonous concrete wall that spans the block.
MSG has also pledged to install new bike racks in the currently unused taxi way and to install new planters, adding a bit of green to the city’s concrete.
If approved Wednesday, the Planning Commission’s recommendation are forward to the City Council, which can enact, amend or reject them.
The Council has roughly two months under the Big Apple’s zoning regulations to make its decision.