Madison Square Garden facts for kids

The Garden from Seventh Avenue at the side.

The Madison Square Garden (frequently called The Garden or MSG) is an indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The arena is home of the New York Knicks NBA team and the New York Rangers of the NHL. It also is the site of many concerts and special events each year and a few college basketball games are played there There have been four arenas with the name Madison Square Garden at three different sites in Manhattan. The first was an open-air arena built in 1879 at East 26th Street and Madison Avenue, also known as Madison Square. It was torn down and replaced with an indoor arena at the same site in 1890. The third MSG, on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, opened in 1925. The current Madison Square Garden opened in 1968. It is at 4 Penn Plaza, close to the intersection of 8th Avenue & 33rd Street in Manhattan, New York City. Was named after 4th President of the United States of America.

Madison Square Garden facade as seen from Eighth Avenue, Aug. 26, 2009.

Seats

The arena has six sections of seats. One of them is not open if hockey is played, because a hockey rink is larger than a basketball court. The other sections used to have different colors. There were red, orange, yellow, brown and blue seats. However, the fans of the New York Rangers only wanted to sit in the blue seats. They did not want to use any of the other sections. They even did not let other fans use the blue seats. For this reason, the MSG does not use these colors today. The most active fans sit in the section 400.

Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero at Wrestlemania 20 hosted in Madison Square Garden.

The number of people who can visit the arena changes. If hockey is played and the first section is taken out to make room for the rink, 18,200 people may be there. For basketball, 19,763 people can watch. Up to 20,000 people may watch a concert in the arena.

George Strait performing at Madison Square Garden, January 21, 2003.

Important events

The track cycling race known as the "madison" was invented at the second Garden, and named after both the first and second Gardens. Both arenas were important cycling venues in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In 1962, the U.S. President John F. Kennedy celebrated his 45th birthday in the third MSG. At the party, Marilyn Monroe sang the song Happy Birthday.
In 2007, Elton John celebrated his 60th birthday in the current MSG. It was also his 60th concert in this arena with all tickets sold.
The Big East Conference holds its annual men's basketball tournament at MSG

Concerts

Home teams

New York Rangers (NHL)
New York Knicks (NBA)
New York Liberty (WNBA)
St. John's Red Storm men's basketball (NCAA) – most home games

Images for kids

A basketball game at Madison Square Garden circa 1968
Madison Square Garden's upper bowl concourse, seen in January 2014 during a Rangers game.
The completely transformed Madison Square Garden in January 2014 (with a new HD scoreboard), as the New York Rangers play against the St. Louis Blues.
MSG during the 2014 Big East Tournament.
The Madison Square Garden marquee, as it appeared in August 2011
MSG as it appeared in 2011
Madison Square Garden in January 2009, as the New York Knicks play against the Houston Rockets.
Madison Square Garden, as it appeared during "Mark Messier Night" on January 12, 2006.
Madison Square Garden's basketball court set for a St. John's College basketball game in 2005.
The 7th Avenue entrance to Madison Square Garden and Penn Station, as it appeared in July 2005