The world’s most famous arena may have to move, as Madison Square Garden’s permit to operate at its current spot above Penn Station was limited to 10 years yesterday.
The City Council voted 47-1 in favor of the 10-year limit to the lease after MSG had requested to operate at the site in perpetuity.
The move came as civic organizations are campaigning to move Madison Square Garden to another location so Penn Station can be overhauled.
The Alliance for a New Penn Station said the council “has made clear that now is time to get to work and build the Penn Station that New York City and the region desperately need in order to improve transit access and spur economic growth in the city and throughout the region.”
Kim Kerns, an MSG spokeswoman, noted the arena is in the midst of a three-year renovation costing nearly $1 billion.
“Madison Square Garden has operated at its current site for generations and has been proud to bring New Yorkers some of the greatest and most iconic moments in sports and entertainment,” Kerns said.
Home to the Knicks and the Rangers, the current MSG opened in 1968 and has hosted legendary boxing matches and concerts.
The venue sits atop Penn Station, the busiest passenger train station in the United States.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn last month told Garden officials finding a new location for the arena is the only way to address the development of a new station.
Some civic groups say there is a desperate need to modernize the dingy, crowded train station and that can’t happen unless the Garden moves.
Vin Cipolla, president of the Municipal Art Society, called the rebuilt station “the key infrastructure and development project of our time and an essential investment in the future of our city.”