Madison Square Garden Given Short 10-Year Lease By City Council

Madison Square Graden — Will the NY Rangers and NY Knicks have to find a new place to play in 2023? Creative Commons

Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers and the New York Knicks, may have to find a new location by the year 2023. The New York City Council voted 47-1 on Wednesday approving a new lease for the "world's most famous arena" giving it only 10 more years at its current midtown location.

The 10-year eviction notice was approved by the city council at the urging of civic organizers looking to improve Penn Station. Madison Square Garden sits above one of the busiest train stations in the country. Organizers are looking to expand and renovate Penn Station in the hope of improving the organized chaos going on below the arena.

The Garden's current location is its' fourth since the arena opened in 1879. Those who cast the vote telling MSG it has to move, felt 10 years is enough time for the owners to find a new home.

Madison Square Garden is currently in the midst of a three-year renovation project costing close to $1 billion dollars. Kim Kerns, a spokeswoman for the Madison Square Garden Company told the Associated Press,

"Madison Square Garden has operated at its current site for generations and has been proud to bring New Yorkers some of the greatest and most iconic moments in sports and entertainment."

The council members want to see MSG move in order to make way for an improved Penn Station. In a statement council member Christine Quinn said Penn Station needs to become more that what some have called the "rat tunnels" that allow people in and out of New York.

"Madison Square Garden will have to move and I think this permit sends the message that work needs to begin now, Quinn's statement said. "We need to make sure Penn Station becomes what we need it to be, a really 21^st century grand entrance into the greatest city in the world...not what Senator Moynihan or others historically described as a bunch of rat tunnels that lead people in and out of the city every day."

Twitter users are not as optimistic about MSG moving as the city council. Some Knicks and Rangers fans are calling it a huge mistake. Others say 10 years is not long enough to find a new location.

Getting rid of Madison Square Garden just to improve Penn Station would be a huge mistake http://t.co/RE5sLVSwXy
— Ben Jacobs (@benhjacobs) July 25, 2013