[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/2018/09/06/city-...toward-showdown-over-stadium-relocation/

City and MSG look headed toward showdown over stadium relocation
MSG has just five years left on its special operating permit, but has announced no plans for a move

By Rich Bockmann
Sept 6, 2018

The City Council and James Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Company appear to be headed toward another clash over plans to relocate the iconic sports stadium.

Madison Square Garden is now at the midway point of the 10-year timetable the city laid out in 2013 for the stadium to relocate and make way for a modern Penn Station.

But with five years left on its special operating permit, MSG appears to have taken no significant steps toward what would be a years-long process of acquiring a new site and constructing a new stadium.

the Council made it clear five years ago that it expected MSG to be gone by 2023. When the stadium’s special operating permit came up for renewal in 2013, MSG had requested an extension in perpetuity.

Then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed giving the stadium a 15-year extension, and his administration offered a sweetener: It proposed a provision that would allow MSG to stay in perpetuity if the company committed to making improvements to Penn Station access, which would require approval by the City Planning Commission.

But the City Council took a harder line. It ended up giving MSG only a 10-year permit, and removed the provision that would allow the Garden to stay.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday held a press conference at Vornado Realty Trust’s 2 Penn Plaza office building to announce he planned to create a new entrance for to Penn Station on 33rd Street.

The governor made no mention of MSG’s plans to relocate or stated the projected costs of the new entrance.