MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, FROM BOXING TO CONCERTS

Today, The Grandma has visited Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylvania Station. 

 

It is the fourth venue to bear the name Madison Square Garden; the first two (1879 and 1890) were located on Madison Square, on East 26th Street and Madison Avenue, with the third Madison Square Garden (1925) farther uptown at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street.

The Garden is used for professional ice hockey and basketball, as well as boxing, concerts, ice shows, circuses, professional wrestling and other forms of sports and entertainment. It is close to other midtown Manhattan landmarks, including the Empire State Building, Koreatown, and Macy's at Herald Square.

It is home to the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was home to the New York Liberty (WNBA) from 1997 to 2017.

Originally called Madison Square Garden Center, the Garden opened on February 11, 1968, and is the oldest major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area. It is the oldest arena in the NBA and the NHL.

As of 2016, MSG is also the second-busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales. Including two major renovations, its total construction cost was approximately $1.1 billion, and it has been ranked as one of the 10 most expensive stadium venues ever built. It is part of the Pennsylvania Plaza office and retail complex, named for the railway station. Several other operating entities related to the Garden share its name.

Madison Square is formed by the intersection of 5th Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in Manhattan. It was named after James Madison, fourth President of the United States.

Madison Square Garden sits directly atop a major transportation hub in Pennsylvania Station, featuring access to commuter rail service from the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit, as well as Amtrak. The Garden is also accessible via the New York City Subway. The A, ​C, and ​E trains stop at 8th Avenue and the 1, ​2, and ​3 trains at 7th Avenue in Penn Station. The Garden can also be reached from nearby Herald Square with the B, ​D, ​F, <F>, ​M​, N, ​Q, ​R, and ​W trains at the 34th Street -Herald Square station as well as PATH train service from the 33rd Street station.

More information: Madison Square Garden

 One night in 1974, I made the comment,
'Here I am, this fat kid, the son of a plumber.
I don't look like a body builder;
fist fight in a parking lot, it doesn't matter.
I'm getting ready to sell out this building.
I'm going to sell out Madison Square Garden one day.
This is the American Dream. I'm living it.'

Dusty Rhodes