Madison Square Garden

From ArticleWorld

Madison Square Garden is currently home to the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers, the New York Liberty and the St. John's basketball team and is located atop Penn Station at 7th Ave between 31st and 33rd Streets. The current arena is actually the fourth arena to bear the name. The first two were located in Madison Square. A third was built at 50th Street and 8th Avenue.

History

The original Madison Square Garden arena was a former passenger depot of the New York and Harlem Railroad. The depot was moved to Grand Central Terminal and the old site was sold to P.T. Barnum and was named Barnum's Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome. In 1876 the name was changes to Gilmore's Garden. William Vanderbilt officially changed the name to Madison Square Garden and opened the arena to the public in 1879. The original arena was built for track cycling. The second MSG opened in 1890. It hosted the Democratic Convention in 1924. The third Madison Square Garden opened in 1925 at a cost of $4.75 million. It hosted the NCAA men's basketball championships from 1943-1950. In 1968, the third MSG closed its doors and the current MSG was opened. Plans to build a fifth Garden across the street are currently in the works. Planners envision restaurants, stores and luxury boxes with a wide concourse.

Other events

In addition to being home to sports teams, the Garden hosts many other events. When the circus comes to town, they set up shop at MSG. In addition, boxing was a popular sport at the arena until Don King and Bob Arum moved it to Las Vegas. Many performers also hold concerts at Madison Square Garden. John Lennon's final concert before he was murdered was held there. In addition, many performers release live albums from their MSG concerts. Billy Joe, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and Phish are a few who have recorded there.