Posted Jun 19, 2013, 11:11 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/130619849
In surprise, Quinn backs mere 10-year extension for Garden
Move by the City Council Speaker came as MSG assembled an all-star cast at a City Council meeting
to oppose a City Planning push for a 15-year extension of the permit MSG wants renewed in perpetuity.
By Matt Chaban
June 19, 2013
Quote:
Council Speaker Christine Quinn stole the show en absentia on Wednesday at a City Council hearing on whether to grant Madison Square Garden a new, permanent special permit to continue to operate in the heart of midtown. Just before the hearing concluded around 2 p.m., Ms. Quinn, issued a statement throwing her support behind a 10-year permit for the arena, at which point it is hoped the Garden would be well on its way to relocating nearby. She also called for the creation of a "Commission for a 21st Century Penn Station" to remake the cramped transit hub that lies increasingly uncomfortably in the Garden’s basement.
She said the purpose of the group would be two-fold. First, to find a new Manhattan home for Madison Square Garden and, second, to create a Penn Station "which more appropriately suits the needs of the hundreds of thousands of travelers who pass through it every day and can accommodate its expected growth in the future."
Ms. Quinn’s opinion is critical. Not only does the speaker hold sway over most land-use decisions, but the Garden is located in her council district, which gives her opinion additional weight. Ms. Quinn, who hopes to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall, had spent the morning campaigning in Harlem and Queens.
Meanwhile, downtown, Madison Square Garden had assembled an all-star cast at the council meeting, including director Spike Lee, Knicks hall of famer Walt Frazier, construction and theatrical unions and the pro-business Partnership for New York City to persuade it to roll back a 15-year term limit placed on the arena by the City Planning Commission. The city aims to use the limit to foster long-term planning for moving the Garden and rebuilding Penn Station, which has been trapped underneath for half a century.
In the end, Ms. Quinn went one step further, cutting five years off that time limit. In the spirit of prize fights at the Garden, Ms. Quinn's colleagues did not pull their punches in questioning arena officials or their critics.
At the hearing, other council members were also critical of the Garden’s efforts.
“I really don’t think a timeline hampers the operations of the Garden,” zoning subcommittee chair Mark Weprin countered. “You’ve had this special permit for 50 years, and even as it expired now, it hasn’t discouraged people from coming to the Garden.”
Leroy Comrie, the deputy majority leader and chair of the land-use committee, insisted that the needs of the arena had to be weighed against those of the transit hub—the nation’s busiest.
"Penn Station is a critical part of the city," he said. "Some checks and balances on perpetuity is key because Penn Station is so critical."
Other council members were just as critical of those seeking to move the arena. Staten Island Councilman Vincent Ignizio said the economic value of the Garden was too big to risk threatening the Garden and possibly having it leave the city. "What about the $200 million in spending the arena brings to the city each year?" he asked.
The opinions were equally split from the audience. “By approving a 10-year permit with no loophole, the council will send a clear message that the continued location of the Garden over Penn Station should not be permanent,” said Regional Plan Association President Bob Yaro. He likely had no way of knowing this was almost exactly what Ms. Quinn would support a few hours after he spoke.
Mr. Lee, a life-long Knicks fan well-known for antics from his court-side seats, said it was tantamount to New York treason to suggest the Garden be moved—this despite the fact he opened his remarks by saying he fondly remembers going to games as a kid at the old Madison Square Garden on 50th Street. “They own the land, and you’re talking about making them move? Where they gonna go?” Mr. Lee said. He suggested Penn Station should relocate if people did not like where it was.
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Absurd, Spike Lee.
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