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World Famous Arena - the landmark of Madison Square Garden

by Wayne Wargo (PenWay.org)

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden. The current location is at 7th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station. It was opened February 14, 1968 and stands next to One Penn Plaza.

Built in 1879, the first Garden had a seating capacity of 10,000 people. At the time, this was considered very significant in size. Different activities like boxing matches and circus were held at this arena.

Madison Square Garden is referred to as "The World's Most Famous Arena." A lot of tourists do not realize that there are always events going on at The Garden, which hosts approximately 320 events a year, but it is best known as the home of the New York Rangers of the NHL and the New York Knicks of the NBA . It is also host to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus when it comes to New York City. Also hosted has been the top dog shows, and both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Seating in the present Madison Square Garden is arranged in six ascending levels. The arena features 20,976 square feet. The number of available seats varies by scheduled events such as basketball, hockey and concerts. MSG is also known for its place in the history of boxing. Many people still think that MSG only hosts championship boxing matches. Many of boxing's biggest fights have been held at Madison Square Garden, including many of the great Joe Louis fights, the Roberto Duran-Ken Buchanan fight, and the first Joe Frazier-Muhammad Ali bout. All unforgettable in the minds of boxing fans.

There have been many musical artists that have performed during the years and some have released live albums. Madison Square Garden was also featured in Madonna's 2006 CD/DVD "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret."

Of worthy note is that President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave one of his famous speeches at MSG on October 31, 1936.

The author's daughter was one of 1,100 plus to attend her graduation commencement at Madison Square Garden, honoring those men and women (the majority being police officers) in obtaining their Master's Degree in various subjects. She graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology. The noteworthy speaker was the then Director of the F.B.I. The Garden was packed and the speech was both awesome and tearful. Not only was this a very proud moment for my daughter, but the author will always remember that first time he set foot in such a famous landmark and felt an experience like no other that probably millions of others have also felt.

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