Manhattan Borough President Shifts Stance on MSG’s Future

Manhattan’s borough president is pivoting on Penn Station, backing a plan to replace Madison Square Garden’s theater with a station entrance but leaving the main arena in place.

Levine will make his recommendation formal Monday as part of the debate over the future of the “world’s most famous arena” ahead of its operating permit expiring in two months, according to the New York Daily News.

Levine previously advocated for the relocation of the arena, but now supports keeping the Knicks, Rangers and Billy Joel in place. Levine’s opinion in the MSG permit process — entangled with the Penn Station redevelopment debate — is advisory, but does add momentum for the theater-demolition plan.

His recommendation to raze the former Hulu Theater and create a spectacular entrance for the transit hub along Eighth Avenue resembles a plan from the Italian firm ASTM, which is in talks with MSG Entertainment to buy the theater for $1 billion, according to Crain’s.

ASTM would build an entrance to the station and put a rectangular glass base around the arena to allow more natural light into the cavernous transit hub. ASTM’s plan only makes sense, however, if it’s paired with a revenue-generating agreement to operate Penn Station, a multilayered complexity.

The redevelopment of Penn Station had until recently relied on Steve Roth’s Vornado Realty Trust, which would spearhead the development of 10 office towers around the station, steering tax revenue to the transit hub. But that plan is falling apart as the conditions for ground-up office projects have worsened.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has vowed to explore alternatives and ASTM is positioning itself to be one. But the Italian firm hasn’t revealed how it would finance the redevelopment and how much it would cost, only saying it would be cheaper than Vornado’s $7 billion to $10 billion price tag.

ASTM’s full plan is expected next month.

— Holden Walter-Warner