A City Council zoning committee has approved a five-year renewal for Madison Square Garden’s special permit, which allows it to operate above Penn Station.
The move slashes previous permits, is less than the 10-year recommendation by the city’s Department of City Planning recommended earlier this summer and well short of the permanent permit requested by the Garden owner James Dolan.
In pushing for five years, Manhattan Councilmember Erick Bottcher said the shorter permit will force officials to move faster on making long term upgrades to Penn Station.
“It’ll give us the space and the time to come up with an answer and to solve this puzzle, but not too much space and time,” Bottcher said following the meeting Monday. “It’ll also set a clock to help get everyone to the table to figure this out.”
Monday’s vote was approved unanimously 6-0. The full City Council is expected to approve the extension next month.
A spokesperson for Madison Square Garden said they were disappointed in the shorter permit but declined to speak publicly. But in the past, Dolan has threatened to move the NBA’s Knicks and NHL’s Rangers if he’s not happy with the deal above Penn Station.
Bottcher rebuffed that possibility.
“I’m going to be the guy that helps get us a new Penn Station,” he said. “I think we can do it, and I think we can do it in the next few years.”
A recent report by the city’s Independent Budget office said it was unlikely that Dolan would relocate the Knicks or Rangers, and that special tax breaks at the Garden have amounted to $1 billion over 41 years.
Comptroller Brand Lander said this permit – the shortest to date – was “an indicator of how seriously the city should take the issues caused by the facility.”
“While I agreed with the local Community Board that a three-year permit would be preferred, I am grateful the City Council committees approved five years rather than the proposed 10,“ Lander said in a statement.
Bottcher and other…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply