Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine addresses the press outside The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 12, 2023.
Photo by Max Parrott
Tear down this theater!
That was the message from two Manhattan elected officials Tuesday as they called for the demolition of The Theater at Madison Square Garden to open up space for a grander redesign of Penn Station.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and City Council Member Erik Bottcher pushed for The Theater’s demise while joining Congressman Jerry Nadler Tuesday at a press conference outside the transit hub while calling for a more “forward-thinking” design of the Penn Station renovation to include a grand entrance on Eighth Avenue.
“Right now what you have is a blank wall taking up almost two full city blocks and it just kills the streetscape,” Levine told amNewYork Metro. “If you get rid of the theater, you can open that all up. You can have light and air coming in. You can remove a lot of pillars and you can have a wide open concourse with daylight streaming in that would feel like the great train station that New Yorkers want and deserve.”
Levine’s vision was inspired in part by the design proposal made by an Italian design firm, ASTM, that includes an ambitious new West Side entrance, though he said he was being careful not to side with any vendor at this point in the process.
“We’re remaining agnostic on who should build it. We’re just saying that we want it to be big,” Levine said.
In his remarks, Nadler advocated for a spacious train hall but didn’t go so far as to suggest whether that would necessitate the demolition of The Theater at MSG — which opened in 1968 as the Felt Forum and was most recently known as the Hulu Theater. The streaming giant had naming rights to The Theater for the last five years.
“We must bring light and air into Penn Station,” he said.
In addition to Levine, Nadler and Bottcher, the press conference included State Senator Liz…
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