Sign of the Times: Michael Kimmelman on Madison Square Garden

Another issue is eminent domain. I don’t think it would be necessary in this case, but the safety and the economic future of million upon millions of New Yorkers depends on an improvement to Penn Station. That is potentially grounds for finding a new home for the Garden, even if they are reluctant. In the end, this should really serve all interests. It’s not about Madison Square Garden, but it should also serve the interests of the Garden not to have the oldest, dingiest and [most] embarrassing arena of a major city.

What is more troubling to you: the design of MSG or the current layout of Penn Station?

The Garden is not the main concern, except that its presence atop Penn Station limits necessary improvements to the station. Unfortunately, the arena has to move in order to make basic fundamental improvements to the station. In the process, we can get a better arena for the city and its owners. If Madison Square Garden were not sitting atop Penn Station, people might not be talking about building a new arena, but then again, the owners might not be as married to the site because they want a site served by public transportation.

Have the renovations ongoing at Madison Square Garden improved its architectural quality?

Not enough, but in the end—I need to keep stressing—this is not an architectural question. It’s a question about planning.

I would let other people decide whether the Garden is competitive with The Barclays Center, but certainly the Garden should be—and is in our imagination—one of the great symbols of New York City, with a profound history. It has moved on many occasions, yet it remains the Garden.

What needs to be done in order to bring the Garden’s ownership to the table?

If I were the owners of the Garden, I would naturally be reluctant to consider this. I would have been down this road before and would be skeptical it would work this time. But I would also think that if, in the end, I can come out of this with a new, state-of-the-art arena and that there are public interests involved who want to make this work, that this is a process that will ultimately be worth my time—even though I have been burned before.

You’ve written about a number of other architecture and civic planning issues impacting New York. What are the most critical?

There are isolated things I’ve written about that are ongoing and important subjects, among them what will happen to 53rd Street with the development of MoMA and the Folk Art Museum. Also, the central library plan at 42nd Street, which strikes me as, on the face of it, a highly dubious and potentially disastrous financial and architectural plan.

Then there is the East Midtown plan, which is an uncooked proposal. I’m not against taller buildings or developing that part of the city, but I think the plan does not proceed from any consideration, any real serious consideration, of infrastructure challenges.

I think East Midtown is an unfortunate and potentially very damaging development that should be left for a later date, when there’s a more serious scheme for improving transit and public spaces in that area and after we have seen further development of lower Manhattan and [the] Far West Side.

In your opinion, has the push for East Midtown development been accelerated by the development at Hudson Yards?

It has been accelerated by the imminent end of the Bloomberg administration. It actually competes with Hudson Yards and lower Manhattan. It is hard to see how it’s in competition with Chicago and London and Shanghai but not developments next door.

You’ve also written about the city’s response to Hurricane Sandy. Could you elaborate on that?

It is a profound and complex issue, imagining the city as a sustainable place with neighborhoods that are fit for a changing climate. We need to take this seriously, and it won’t be solved by building one barrier or two.

Will it be addressed successfully over time?

We are an amnesiac society. It’s a common thing that after a certain amount of time goes by, we forget about disasters. It’s too easy just to forget about the problems Sandy caused and the larger problems it predicts.

It will take an enormous amount of vigilance, and the next mayor needs to make it a central plank, which, with all the other things going on in the city, might be hard to do.