John's Blog

I know I've whined about this before, but the recent news about plans to move Madison Square Garden seems to be a bad idea born out of greed. In theory, this could be a "best of all possible worlds" convergence: preserving a historic structure with DNA ties to the original Penn Station, creating a rejuvenated public space and transportation hub, as well as a vibrant mixed-use commercial development. But when things sound too good to be true, they usually are.

The original plan for Moynihan Station included a sweeping glass canopy creating a grand vaulted waiting area, reminiscent in scale to the original. The next revision ditched the canopy, but did keep a public space with a skylight; still an improvement over the current armpit of a station. But the new plan calls for a new Garden to be built within the Farley Post Office, primarily as a way for the developer to get some killer tax credits by moving MSG to a historic building, and then giving him the ability to develop the old space. Oh, and then we'll do some sort of rebuilding of Penn Station, details and financing to be determined. Freaking genius, except that one more time the public's best interests fall by the wayside. Seems like history repeats itself, at least as far as Penn Station is concerned. Let's hope Pataki, in a effort to insure a legacy of sorts, keeps the original proposal on track and New York gets a rebirth of a missing masterpiece and not another stab at mediocrity than ruins a historic structure.