History
Promoter Tex Rickard built the third Madison Square Garden in under a year in 1925, moving the name uptown to the Theater District. Theater architect Thomas W. Lamb designed it, and it opened that December.
For four decades it was the country's best-known arena: home to the Rangers, the Americans and later the Knicks, the stage for championship boxing, college basketball's NIT and enormous political rallies, including President Kennedy's 1962 birthday celebration.
In February 1968 the Garden moved to a new building atop Pennsylvania Station. The Eighth Avenue arena was torn down, the land sat as a parking lot for about 20 years, and Worldwide Plaza opened there in 1989.
Why it matters: The arena that made 'the Garden' synonymous with big-time boxing, hockey and basketball in New York for 43 years.
Timeline
- January 9, 1925Groundbreaking[1]
Work began; the arena was finished in 349 days.
- December 15, 1925Formal opening[1]
The Garden formally opened, after a six-day bicycle race and a first boxing bout had already been staged.
- November 16, 1926Rangers' first game[1]
The Rangers played their first game in the building.
- February 28, 1940First televised basketball[1]
The first televised basketball games were played at the Garden.
- May 1962Kennedy birthday gala[1]
The arena hosted President Kennedy's birthday celebration.
- February 11, 1968Final Rangers game[1]
The Rangers tied Detroit 3-3; the Knicks had played their finale the day before.
- February 13, 1968
The dog show was the final event before the move to Penn Station.
- 1989
After two decades as a parking lot, the site was redeveloped as Worldwide Plaza.
The site today
| Physical status | Site redeveloped[1,3] |
|---|---|
| Current use | Worldwide Plaza (opened 1989) and New World Stages; the lot was a parking lot until then[1,3] |
| Mapped location | Approximate historic location |
Teams & events
| New York / Brooklyn Americans | NHL · 1925–1942 |
|---|---|
| New York Rangers | NHL · 1926–1968 |
| New York Knicks | BAA/NBA · 1946–1968 |
| St. John's Redmen | NCAA · 1930–1968 · tenant |
Listed here are organizations that used this physical venue. A franchise's history and a venue's history are tracked separately.
Venue facts
| Official name | Madison Square Garden |
|---|---|
| Other names | Madison Square Garden III; Third Madison Square Garden; Madison Square Garden |
| Location | West side of Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, Manhattan, New York, New York[1,2,3] |
| Venue type | Arena |
| Sports | Boxing & wrestling, Basketball, Hockey, Cycling |
| Level | NHL, NBA, BAA, NCAA, Pro Boxing |
| Opened | December 15, 1925[1,2] |
| Last used for sports | February 13, 1968[1,2] |
| Demolished | 1968–1969[1,3] |
| Physical status | Site redeveloped |
| Final capacity | 18,496[1] |
| Capacity notes | 18,496 for boxing and basketball; 15,925 for hockey. A 1941 boxing card drew 23,190. |
| Architect | Thomas W. Lamb[1,2] |
| Construction cost | $4.75 million[1] |
| Owner / operator | Tex Rickard (Madison Square Garden Corporation)[1] |
| Closure | Replaced by the fourth Madison Square Garden built over Pennsylvania Station. |
Documented details
Connected venues
Sources
- Madison Square Garden (1925) (Wikipedia), Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, architect, capacity, closed, construction cost, coordinates, current land use, demolished, events, opened, owner operator, teams
- Lost Madison Square Gardens of NYC, Untapped New York. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, architect, closed, opened
- Playbill 'At This Theatre': New World Stages, Shubert Organization / Playbill. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, current land use, demolished
Research confidence
Key facts on this page (opening, closing, status and location) are each supported by sources, with key dates corroborated by at least two independent sources. Last reviewed 2026-10-19.
Where sources disagree (3)
- Demolition: Wikipedia says 1968-1969; Playbill says torn down in 1968.
- Opening: Wikipedia gives December 15, 1925 as the formal opening, but a bicycle race (Nov 29-Dec 5) and a basketball game (Dec 6) and boxing (Dec 11) preceded it.
- The fourth Garden's first event: MSG III article says February 12, 1968; the Madison Square Garden article gives opening February 11, 1968.
See something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction or submit a source.