The skirmish over the renewal of Madison Square Garden's permit continues to escalate, with officials and area residents pushing to cap its license to operate at 15 years, and an arena exec publishing a defiant, retaliatory oped that states MSG can absolutely not be forced to move. (Perhaps the possibility of eminent domain slipped their minds in that fit of passion.)
In any case, as myriad levels of city bureaucracy continue to debate the Garden's future, Bloomberg's poet-slash-archicritic James Russell has taken up the mantle, proposing that Penn Station get a much-needed makeover ASAP, even before the Garden's fate is sealed. Because news, and architectural commentary, is so much more fun when it's interpreted literary-style, here is another installment in our sometimes-series Rhyme Time With James Russell:
Hope has never died
that one day the wrecking ball will swing,
Daily hive for 600,000 scuttling commuters.
In truth, Penn can be vastly improved;
skylights and clerestories can be punched in.
Choreograph the movement of people
among station, subways and arena
into an architectural ballet bathed in gorgeous light.
· Fix Penn Station Now; Raze $1 Billion Knicks Garden Later [Bloomberg]
· More Rhyme Time With James Russell [Curbed]
· All Madison Square Garden coverage [Curbed]
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