★★★★★ 5.0
Discover
Madison Square Garden
Right now, 650,000 people are rushing through train tunnels directly beneath your feet! Madison Square Garden is the only major arena in the world built on top of a working train station - Penn Station's busy platforms rumble just below the basketball court where Stephen Curry broke the all-time three-point record in 2021. This incredible building has been torn down and rebuilt FOUR times since 1874, more than any famous venue on Earth! Billy Joel loves it so much he's performed here 150 times - that's like doing a concert every month for over twelve years! Look for the special subway entrances that connect the arena to the trains below, and listen carefully... can you hear that distant rumbling of the trains carrying people under the court where the Knicks play tonight?
Did You Know?
- The first Madison Square Garden, built in 1879 at 26th Street and Madison Avenue, was an open-air arena with no roof, hosting everything from boxing matches to cycling races—even though boxing was technically illegal at the time, so promoters billed the fights as 'illustrated lectures' to skirt the law.
- The second Madison Square Garden (1890–1925) featured a stunning 32-story tower topped with a statue of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, designed by renowned architect Stanford White—a landmark so iconic it was visible across the city, and the site of extravagant events like dog shows, cattle displays, and even political conventions.
- The current Madison Square Garden, opened in 1968 above Penn Station, is famous for its unique round shape and iconic ceiling, but it also houses a hidden theater beneath the main arena—plus, it was the birthplace of the first-ever regional sports network, the Madison Square Garden Network, which launched the same year the building opened.