4 Questions for New York's Next Mayor About a New Penn Station

Late last month, the New York City Council told Madison Square Garden it has 10 years to find a new location. The news was a clear sign that the city intends to advance ideas for building a new Penn Station, which exists on the same site. In the end, the most iconic arena in the Northeast went up against the most congested travel hub in North America, and lost.

Some brief background for the unfamiliar: the splendid original Penn Station was demolished in 1963 and replaced with the current stadium-station complex. Many expected the Garden to be granted a new lease in perpetuity. But opponents of that plan convinced the council to reconsider — most notably, Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman, who called the present Penn Station a "calamity," and the Municipal Arts Society, which solicited lovely renderings of a new one.