The New York Knicks have been on a red-hot streak, undefeated 9-0 since Game 4 of Round 1. But alongside their success on the hardwood, there were a few rumblings about their home arena. And reports had emerged that President Donald Trump was considering moving the iconic Madison Square Garden to accommodate a newly rebuilt Penn Station. The move depended solely on one variable falling into place.

Last month, Ramsey Khalifeh, a WNYC reporter, said, “Trump was presented a plan that would move MSG across the streets, months before three finalists were selected by Amtrak to formally lead the project. And those sources say that Trump’s main comment was, ‘Look, I won’t take this plan seriously unless I’m convinced that James Dolan, who owns Madison Square Garden, would actually move.” And it hasn’t taken long for Dolan to make a decision on “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

“The decision about whether to move MSG weighed heavily on James Dolan, the billionaire owner of the Garden and the New York Knicks,” reported the US Sun. “Any plan to move forward with a relocation required the owner of the red-hot Knicks’ approval to do so, which he repeatedly shot down.” It’s a major update, and the Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers, who also play at the Garden, will take a sigh of relief.

This is practically a repeat of Dolan’s tape with the government. There was chatter in 2023 about Penn Station needing drastic improvements. The councilman who represents that Midtown area described it as “a subterranean, dismal train station,” according to ABC. But Dolan denied moving away. The same thing happened 10 years earlier, when the City Council told him to find a new location. “I’m not going to move Madison Square Garden,” was his public reply. He has refused other locations, including one on the west side near Hudson Yards, even though that would’ve amounted to an extra $2 billion profit a year.

Penn Station’s rebuild is expected to cost an astonishing $8 billion. This was a significant project for Trump, as he even fired the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last year. The feds were put in charge of redeveloping Penn Station with Amtrak, but they’ve been unable to convince Dolan. This happened after some planners had initially argued that transforming the transport hub was just not possible without moving MSG. Another bidder, who was heavily supported by the President, according to the NY Post, even proposed moving MSG across Seventh Avenue. But there’s a new solution to this now.

Halmar/Penn Transformation Partners is the “master developer” chosen to lead the overhaul of the nation’s busiest commuter rail station, US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Amtrak Board of Directors said in a joint announcement. And with their construction design set to drop in the coming months, a rough list of key areas this redevelopment project will address has already been made public.

So, what will the new look of Penn Station have in store?

• Construct a grand entrance on Eighth Avenue to a new train hall
• Replace cramped, decrepit walkways with open, beautiful concourses
• Expand track capacity, including the introduction of at least limited through-running on the regional rail network
• Enable new retail, better wayfinding, and other passenger experience improvements, all while maintaining the iconic Madison Square Garden with a new cladding for a classical look
• Improve the station’s existing subterranean structure

“When it comes to our rail, we’re making generational improvements to the Northeast Corridor,” Duffy said during testimony at a Senate hearing Wednesday. “In selecting Penn Transformation Partners (Halmar) and their innovative plan, we are one step closer to delivering a world-class travel hub that daily commuters and travelers have dreamed of for decades.”

Madison Square Garden has sat atop Penn Station since the 1960s, creating cramped quarters and limited natural light in the 116-year-old transit hub. The new Halmar plan, though, will allow natural light and extra space into Penn by building a multilevel, glass-encased “podium” that would surround MSG.

Once this decision came to light, along with the news that MSG would remain untouched, a close source to Dolan said the following.

“We congratulate Penn Transformation Partners on being selected to redevelop Penn Station following Amtrak’s process and look forward to working with all parties as their plan advances toward a new Penn Station,” an MSG Entertainment spokesperson said.

Before redevelopment begins, though, there’s a major sports event that may create issues for fans who want to attend games at MSG. According to the Daily Mail, the station’s security will only allow fans attending the FIFA World Cup to use the transportation four hours before kickoff and three hours after the matchup on the days that games are held at MetLife. People will only be allowed to enter if they show security a special ticket for the soccer event. The issue for Knicks fans will be the first two World Cup games, on June 13 and 16, which fall on the same dates as Games 5 and 6 of the NBA Finals.

Now, this will only turn into an inconvenient scenario if the Knicks make it to the Finals, and even then, they’d have to get past Game 4. When this update dropped on social channels, it caused some unrest among NYC locals who’d then need to switch lanes during peak hours, making the already-expected traffic congestion even worse.

So, there’s currently a lot happening around the MSG, but Dolan and Co. will make sure the focus shifts back to the playoff series, where they hold a 2-0 lead.