{"blocks":[{"id":"8rh50n8j-qlzjtvrt","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/04/entertainment/taylor-swift-has-a-tacky-msg-wedding-and-madonna-releases-an-amazing-album-its-bizarro-world/","meta":{"title":"Taylor Swift has a tacky MSG wedding and Madonna releases an amazing album — it’s bizarro world","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/madonna-performs-onstage-rebel-heart-133271974.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"id":"qklvr0ow-n6q2o3bg","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/03/sports/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-closely-collaborated-with-same-designer-for-wedding/","meta":{"title":"Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce closely collaborated with same designer for MSG wedding looks","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/newspress-collage-5lk6lvlom-1783133397237.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1783119047&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"id":"44qj0mb2-bq8xe8g6","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/03/us-news/white-house-spoofs-taylor-swift-and-travis-kelce-msg-marriage-announcement/","meta":{"title":"White House spoofs Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce MSG marriage announcement: ‘Trump is your president’","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/newspress-collage-7lfe41anq-1783132603278.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1783118230&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Ten years ago, the City Council gave Madison Square Garden and its owners, controlled by James Dolan, 10 years to either move or fix problems created when a previous generation of urban planners thought, wrongly, that squashing it on top of Penn Station was a good idea."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"But those who run the Garden failed to make any improvements in that time, and neither did City Hall or the state."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"On Wednesday, the City Planning Commission voted 9-1 to give Dolan and his team another 10-year permit; it’s asking us to trust MSG to keep a new round of promises that the arena will be improved."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"No way."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The City Council, which must still OK such a move, should give the Garden no more than a four-year extension — and not a minute more, as leverage to be sure he lives up to his promises."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"It’s only prudent."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Meanwhile, former MTA boss Patrick Foye and current boss, Janno Lieber, are in a cage match over different visions of how to fix the problems."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Foye has thrown his support behind a plan by the Italian firm ASTM to sheath the Garden in a glass box and reportedly pay MSG $500 million for the Hulu Theater; Lieber prefers a less eye-catching vision with more space for commuters. "}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000008485773.jpg?w=810"},"caption":"\n On Wednesday, the City Planning Commission voted 9-1 to give Dolan and his team another 10-year permit to trust MSG to keep a new round of promises that the arena will be improved. Getty Images"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"In both cases, the Garden would stay on top of the station, making life harder for both it and the station going forward and pushing costs up during construction. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Both plans would require billions of public dollars, and just as many complex real-estate, engineering and construction decisions that could take years to nail down."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Each plan depends on Dolan’s “promise” to do the right thing, whatever that turns out to be. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"In the meantime, Dolan is making the classic New York real-estate ask: You want something?"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Pay me."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000008676326.jpg?w=1024"},"caption":"\n The City Council is set to hold a hearing on this issue on July 18 and then vote on it; a four-year special permit means the council would vote again in 2027, keeping everyone on a tight leash. Matthew McDermott for NY Post"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"That’s where the $500 million for the theater comes in. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Meanwhile, remember, the city doesn’t charge Dolan taxes for sitting on the biggest transportation hub in the region: Per the city’s Independent Budget Office, MSG gets as much as $50 million a year in property relief, totaling over $1 billion over a 20-year period."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The city certainly has leverage: Without the special permit, the Garden would not be allowed to host more than 2,500 customers (with it, MSG can accommodate 20,000 people)."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"In addition, Dolan would lose the rights to have lucrative, supersized electronic exterior billboards."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Setting a limit on his control — not agreeing to his request for a permit with no time limit — is the only way to make sure he keep his promises and the public gets the final say on whether he does. "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Dolan wants the City Planning Commission to determine if he’s made the promised improvements he’s promised."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"But how can its members possibly call him out if he reneges after they’ve given him a permit for 10 years, as they want to do?"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Their leverage would be gone."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"And New Yorkers could be stuck in the same rut a decade from now."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The City Council is set to hold a hearing on this issue on July 18 and then vote on it; a four-year special permit means the council would vote again in 2027, keeping everyone on a tight leash."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"A lot can happen in four years."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Only two years ago, everyone thought Gov. Andrew Cuomo was going to push through a Penn Station plan to be financed by a sweetheart deal with Vornado to build 10 office towers."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Now he’s gone, and so is the money promised by Vornado."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"On the other hand, it only took 18 months from groundbreaking until the Barclays Center had its first show."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Who knows?"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"

"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Maybe in four years we can have a new Madison Square Garden too, and at least some real progress on improvements to Penn Station and the neighborhood."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"If not, the council can call the foul."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":""}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Let’s start a four-year countdown clock on Dolan’s promises."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"After four years, we can reconsider."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Robert Yaro is a former president of the Regional Plan Association"}}]}

Robert Yaro

NypRobertYaro@RoundtableIO

Don’t give away our leverage to fix Penn Station, once and for all