(James Messerschmidt)
As the second phase of the Garden’s three-part renovation nears completion in advance of the Knicks’ home opener with the Heat on Nov. 2, there is one aspect that ought to stir the nostalgic heart strings of generations of MSG denizens.
The blue seats are back.
Exiled more than 20 years ago, victimized by the Garden’s last renovation so more luxury suites could be built, the fabled blue seats were once home to the loudest and most passionate fans of the Knicks, Rangers and college basketball — cheap seats when the seats were actually … well, cheap.
“I sat in the blue seats at my first Rangers game, and to make it from the blue seats to the Garden ice was incredible,” said Nick Fotiu the Staten Island native who grew up to be a Rangers enforcer. “Rangers fans bleed blue, but there is a special pride that comes with sitting in the blue seats. They are like heaven to Rangers fans.”
All Garden fans, really. Which is why a small unofficial committee of past blue seats denizens both famous and anonymous were consulted to make sure the shade of blue was an exact match to the original; the old blue seats extend beyond a time of high def and digital technology, so much existing footage of the old seats were subject to shadows and shadings.