<P> Madison Square Garden, often called "MSG" or simply "The Garden", is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan . Located in Midtown Manhattan between 7th and 8th Avenues from 31st to 33rd Streets, it is situated atop Pennsylvania Station . It is the fourth venue to bear the name "Madison Square Garden", the first two (1879 and 1890) were located on Madison Square, on East 26th Street and Madison Avenue, with the third Madison Square Garden (1925) further uptown at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street . The Garden is used for professional basketball and ice hockey, as well as boxing, concerts, ice shows, circuses, professional wrestling and other forms of sports and entertainment . It is close to other midtown Manhattan landmarks, including the Empire State Building, Koreatown, and Macy's at Herald Square . It is home to the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and since 1997, the New York Liberty (WNBA). </P> <P> The Garden opened on February 11, 1968, and is the oldest major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area . It is the oldest arena in the National Hockey League and the second - oldest arena in the National Basketball Association . In 2016, MSG was the second - busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales, behind The O2 Arena in London . Including two major renovations, its total construction cost is approximately $1.1 billion, and it has been ranked as one of the 10 most expensive stadium venues ever built . It is part of the Pennsylvania Plaza office and retail complex . Several other operating entities related to the Garden share its name . </P> <P> Madison Square is formed by the intersection of 5th Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in Manhattan . It was named after James Madison, fourth President of the United States . </P> <P> Two venues called Madison Square Garden were located just northeast of the square, the first from 1879 to 1890, and the second from 1890 to 1925 . The first Garden, leased to P.T. Barnum, had no roof and was inconvenient to use during inclement weather, so it was demolished after 11 years . Madison Square Garden II was designed by noted architect Stanford White . The new building was built by a syndicate which included J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, P.T. Barnum, Darius Mills, James Stillman and W.W. Astor . White gave them a Beaux - Arts structure with a Moorish feel, including a minaret - like tower modeled after Giralda, the bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville--soaring 32 stories--the city's second tallest building at the time--dominating Madison Square Park . It was 200 feet (61 m) by 485 feet (148 m), and the main hall, which was the largest in the world, measured 200 feet (61 m) by 350 feet (110 m), with permanent seating for 8,000 people and floor space for thousands more . It had a 1,200 - seat theatre, a concert hall with a capacity of 1,500, the largest restaurant in the city and a roof garden cabaret . The building cost $3 million . Madison Square Garden II was unsuccessful like the first Garden, and the New York Life Insurance Company, which held the mortgage on it, decided to tear it down in 1925 to make way for a new headquarters building, which would become the landmark Cass Gilbert - designed New York Life Building . </P>

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