11.19.21 - Madison Square Garden would cost $8B to relocate, NY officials said during confidential meeting
'Madison Square Garden is too expensive to move — and New York officials earlier this year weren’t keen on collecting property taxes from the venue’s owners, the state’s economic development agency says.
Empire State Development Corporation officials spent months earlier this year advocating for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed overhaul of Penn Station that since the 1960s has been buried by the famed sports venue.
But forcing the relocation of Madison Square Garden — which controls owns a lease on the air rights above the train hub — was out of the question, according to details of a June 1 meeting hosted by ESD that were published Thursday by the good government group Reinvent Albany.
The meeting was confidential. It was attended by a slew of community board members, trade group leaders, surrogates for elected officials — and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer herself.
ESD officials during the meeting projected it would cost taxpayers $8.6 billion to relocate the sports venue, an estimate that includes $5 billion to purchase new land and construct a replacement arena.
Officials said the public would have to eat the cost “to avoid lingering MSG complications that would arise with no buyout,” according to minutes from the meeting.'