The World's Most Famous Arena...
Written: Apr 23 '08
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Pros: the location, the Rangers, the excitement, the atmosphere, the footlong hot dogs
Cons: the price! the price! the price! and some seats are broken
The Bottom Line: Expensive place but it's also the best place to watch a game.
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| arson83's Full Review: Madison Square Garden |
What I like about Madison Square Garden heavily outnumbers what I don't like. Loosely translated, that means I like the New York Rangers more than overprices bottles of water and high-priced tickets.
Let's put things right out there: Life is a business. Wherever someone can sell you something, they will, and when there is no competition, they will charge you whatever they can for it. James Dolan - while the labels "moron," "jerk," and "idiot" apply, knows this. His father, Charles, owned Cablevision, and the only reason Jim Dolan is even employed is because his father handed him the company.
Regardless, Dolan knows that if you want a bottle of water while at a concert, basketball game, or hockey game, you will have no choice but to buy it from his vendors, so he gouges the prices. I think it's $4 or $4.50 for a bottle of Jana water, $5 or $5.50 if you get it from the servers in the stands (the lower level seats have waiters and waitresses), plus tip.
Price is the biggest complaint on here about the Garden. NY City is a huge market, and it sells out constantly. The Rangers have sold out every game the past 2 seasons. The Knicks are horrendous but have sold out nearly every game this past season. Many of those are from corporate accounts who don't go to the games, but still, Dolan is getting his green. By contrast, the Islanders don't sell out, so you can get a real cheap ticket and a good deal. But in Manhattan, to get a ticket, you must pay.
The Rangers' payroll went from roughly $88M in 2004 to $40 in 2006 when the NHL resumed business. Ticket prices still went up 10%. Hmmmm. Every year that the Rangers make the playoffs, prices get raised. A $44 ticket in the 300 section two years ago is now $52.
Deals
Yes, the prices are awful. But there can be some good deals. If you get a beer, don't get a 16 oz. bottle of Bud Light for $7. Get the 22 oz. of Stella or Molson or Labatt for $7.25. Instead of a $5 hot dog, get the footlong - about 50% bigger - for $5.50, and split that and a $4 pretzel with someone. It took me years to learn this!
You might also want to hit the $2 hot dog cart outside on 8th avenue. Or head to one of the bars and drink a few beers and get some food before hand (recommendation: The Molly Wee Pub on 8th and 33rd, but get to all the bars early on game night!). Or wait and get a great gyro from the Halal guy after the game.
The Atmosphere
And still, there is no great arena to see a game than at the World's Most Famous Arena. The excitement of a Rangers game near playoff time is off the charts. Even the Knicks, when they were good 9 years ago, made the building rock.
Billy Joel chose to play 12 concerts here in 2006 for a reason. Elton John chose to celebrate his 60th birthday at MSG and not in England because it is simply Madison Square Garden.
OAR (Of a Revolution) managed to sell out the Garden for a concert in 2006 without having a song on the radio, and called it the biggest thrill of their lives. Kenny Chesney plays MSG on the rare occasions he comes to NY.
Convenience
It is also very convenient to get to MSG. In fact, I don't know how to drive in to Manhattan from Long Island. While that may speak to my ineptitude, it also speaks to how well-located MSG is. It is literally right on top of Penn Station, so I just take the LIRR in, walk through the concourse, head outside to get a $2 hot dog (and a $1 Hawaiian Punch), and go in the arena.
Bathroms
One of my biggest fears on the planet is having to go to the bathroom at Penn Station. I imagine the prison at Guantanamo Bay has nicer facilities. So I always try to make sure I'm empty before I leave the Garden, and sometimes, if you're drinking, you gotta go a lot. So I have a lot of experience in the Garden bathrooms, and they aren't all that bad. There are a lot of them and so the lines don't get too long. Plus, you can always sneak in the out side and go there, because there are urinals there people don't know about. There are also automatic faucets, although there aren't automatic flushers or towels.
Vendors are Awful
If there is a job Jimmy Dolan would have if his dad wasn't rich, it would be that of the cashiers at the food stands. It's not that they're slow getting you food, it's the fact that they can't count money and forget to give you drinks sometimes.
For instance, they gave out free food on the last Knicks game of the year. The newspaper article said that the lines moved fast and were never more than 5 deep. That makes sense - because there is no exchange of money!
At one game in March, a friend and I wanted a beer before the game, so right before the Anthem, we went to get one. We missed 7 minutes of the game because it took the cashier 30 seconds to give each person change, not including ringing it up and taking the money and all the sodas he forgot to give people.
Overall
Overall, what are you going to do against a big machine? You either deprive yourself of games and concerts, or you bite the bullet, go their, and try not to drop $300 for a family of four.
Yes, the prices are bad. And yes, tickets will never go down and will only go up next season, no matter how bad the teams perform.
But I don't think I'd mind as much if Dolan wasn't getting my hard-earned money.
Recommended:
Yes
Parking Availability: What A Nightmare
Seat Location: Mid Level
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Epinions.com ID:
arson83
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Member: Z. Schiff
Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 134
Trusted by: 16 members
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