"Madison Square Garden will soon be permitted under its shortest timeline to date – an indicator of how seriously the city should take the issues caused by the facility, to say nothing of concerns about the practices of its owners. 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 ten.
"We cannot wait five years before engaging again on this issue and developing a plan; we need to seize the moment and work now to develop a sustainable strategy for the region, and for the train station beneath it. Transit needs to be at the center of all plans for the area, and Penn Station needs to become the modern, nation-leading transit hub it has the opportunity to be. All of this work needs to be done with, rather than to, the surrounding community.
"If in the five years to come, we cannot ensure that critical transportation infrastructure updates can be made to Penn Station, Madison Square Garden itself will have to be transported to a new location, and the station rebuilt from the ground up."