MSG Entertainment says it is disappointed in MTA's compatibility report on Penn Station
NEW YORK -- Two of the city's biggest landmarks appear to be at odds over expansion plans for Penn Station. The MTA and Madison Square Garden may not be seeing eye to eye over how to coexist.
Penn Station's ongoing transformation just got tense, because when the city asked the MTA to weigh in on how it is coexisting with Madison Square Garden, the response came in the form of a bombshell report, with the MTA using the words "not compatible" to describe the Garden and Penn.
"We need Madison Square Garden to cooperate and become compatible, make the arena compatible, with the station," said Jaime Torres-Springer, president of MTA Construction and Development.
Torres-Springer showed CBS2 around a Penn Station that, if the Garden plays ball, will be wider and higher.
"We've got Madison Square Garden sitting on top of Penn Station. Some of the places that it is using, like for its loading dock, like this taxiway that has been closed since 9/11, Eighth Avenue entrances, some of the places where their heating and cooling," Torres-Springer said.
READ MORE: Madison Square Garden & Penn Station are no longer compatible, transit systems say
MSG Entertainment, which owns the Garden, said in a statement, "We are disappointed to see this compatibility report from the MTA and other rail agencies, considering how we have been cooperating throughout this process. This is the opinion of a few and not all stakeholders involved."
"Hopefully, whatever they do doesn't take away from the magic of the Garden," Vaughn Coleman said.
"It kind of feels historic at this point," another person said, adding he'd want MSG to stay right where it is.
The next move in all of this will come from the city.
The Garden's current permit with the city expires July 24. Starting this week, members of the City Planning Commission will hear testimony. It will then make a recommendation to Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council.
