The roof has not caved in on the Knicks’ season yet, but it did enough to cancel tonight’s big Garden match vs. the Orlando Magic due to asbestos concerns.
The Garden is shut down until further notice and an MSG spokesman said more information on its reopening will be available tomorrow. It leaves up in the air the Knicks next home game Friday vs. Washington, though workers have three days to clean up.
The Knicks are 1-2 and looking for their first Garden win. The arena is undergoing a major $775 million transformation and will be closed the next two to three summers.
A Knicks statement issued this afternoon said, “Following last night’s Rangers game, during overnight maintenance of Madison Square Garden, which included cleaning asbestos-related materials in the attic above the ceiling, some debris fell into the Arena.”
It added, “Out of an abundance of caution, and after consulting the NBA, we are postponing tonight’s Knicks v. Magic game. We will be working with the city and independent experts, ATC Associates and GCI Environmental Advisory, to evaluate and determine the most appropriate course of action. As the safety of our customers and employees are our top priority, we will not reopen the Garden until we are absolutely assured the Arena is safe.”
An NBA statement said the Orlando game will be made up at a later date. The Knicks reconvene tomorrow at 11 a.m. for a practice at their training facility in Westchester before flying to Chicago, where they play the Bulls on Thursday.
Ticket holders are advised to retain their tickets, and to go to nyknicks.com for rescheduling information.