It calls itself the World’s Most Famous Arena, but to most New Yorkers, the 139-year-old event space is our local town hall where we’ve seen presidents, pucks, a pope and Pickles the Clown.
Local celebrities like Spike Lee, Jay-Z and Beyonce are just as comfortable courtside cheering on their favorite teams as they are performing center stage. Mick Jagger may have pranced on stage with the Rolling Stones during their many concerts, but he also danced in the audience as Bob Marley swayed his dreadlocks to a Rasta beat.
The first Garden got its start when Cornelius Vanderbilt moved his railroad to Grand Central Terminal from a spot near Madison Square Park, now the site of the New York Life Building. Promoter Phineas T. Barnum quickly saw his opportunity to build a large enclosed space with banked wooden benches around a 274-foot oval center that was equipped with only a tent roof for the most inclement days.
