A few days ago, my reader Marta Bosse shared her testimonial about the Yankees stadium tour here in New York. However, this was not her only tour during her stay. Marta also took the opportunity to learn more about Madison Square Garden, one of the most famous venues in the city, both for sports competitions and great music concerts. Check her testimonial!
Some pics are from citysightseeingnewyork.wordpress.com
Madison Square Garden is home to the New York Knicks (basketball) and the New York Rangers (hockey). We were a small group and we follow the guide through the whole arena. Our guide was great, super excited! She started by talking about the MSG story that has begun in 1879 – I didn’t even know it, but this is already the fourth arena! The first one was near Madison Square Park. It was completely renovated in 2013 and is spotless. The MSG has housed many historical events, political events, shows, fights, games … everything is amazing! Throughout the stadium, you will see photos and souvenirs of every important event held at MSG. It is not even possible to talk about all the events, so at some points, we go by and look at the photos and dates on the walls. Among so many moments, there are photos of the visits of two Popes (the last one from Pope Francisco, in 2015). During the tour, we learned more about the structure and capacity of the current arena and how they keep everything perfect for all events. In this part, our guide showed a very curious point: the Beer Room (in fact, there are 4 rooms), which is a huge room where is located all the beer of the place. There are 1,042 barrels, which descend through the 521 pipes for each of the vendors.
Then we went to see the famous Suites, which are the fancy cabins, where the rich and famous watch the games and concerts. It’s incredible! It has wonderful views and every possible comfort. Everyone asked about the price and the guide explained to us that the price always depends on each requirement of the contract. Many powerful companies buy a Suite by season and offer tickets to please customers.
MSG ceiling is a story apart as it is concave, rather than convex like most venues – and it is like this to provide better acoustics. There is a high-tech mega screen so everyone from every seat has a great view. The floor of the MSG is the most impressive point of all. As the hockey season begins, they build the ice field with 38,066 liters of water, carefully layered to make the paint look perfect and the ice white. The NHL regular season runs from October to April and during all that time the ice is there. When there is an NBA game, they ride the court on top with thousands of pieces that will fit together like a puzzle – the job takes 3 hours to complete. If there is a concert too, they mount the protection and the floor all over the ice. So cool!
During our tour, unfortunately, we were not able to go to the locker room because the Rangers were there to train. But we saw a video showing details and we learned that the circular format of the locker room was a request from the players, so that all the players can be closer
Conclusion? It’s a super cool tour, it’s worth it! And if you like sports, you should go! As there was no event at the stadium during my stay, I thought it would be a great opportunity to visit the MSG.
Tickets: U$26,95, BUY NOW. NY Explorer Pass, NY CityPass and NY Pass are also accepted. Kids (12 and under): $19.95
When? Every day, from 9h30am to 3pm – and tours last 1h20. Check the website, because the tours may not happen on some dates.
Address: 4 Pennsylvania Plaza.
Content creator and journalist in New York City. Here, I share lifestyle, beauty, NYC tips, thoughts, and the struggles about living in the most amazing city in the world! I’m not gonna pretend to be another person: I’m a Brazilian immigrant and I think this is my soul, it is part of who I am. I hope you enjoy my content! Follow me on Instagram!
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