Madison Square Garden (MSG III) was an indoor arena in New York City, the third bearing that name. Built in 1925 and closed in 1968, it was located on the west side of Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets in Manhattan, on the site of the city's trolley-car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near Madison Square. MSG III was the home of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association, and also hosted numerous boxing matches, the Millrose Games, concerts, and other events. In 1968 it was demolished and its role and name passed to the current Madison Square Garden, which stands at the site of the original Penn Station. One Worldwide Plaza was built on the arena's former 50th Street location.
In 1931, a college basketball triple header to raise money for Mayor Jimmy Walker's Unemployment Relief Fund was highly successful. In 1934, Ned Irish began promoting a successful series of college basketball double headers at the Garden featuring a mix of local and national schools. MSG III began hosting the National Invitation Tournament annually in 1938, and hosted seven NCAA men's basketball championship finals between 1943 and 1950. On February 28, 1940, Madison Square Garden hosted the first televised basketball games in a Fordham-Pitt and Georgetown-NYU doubleheader. A point shaving scandal involving games played at the Garden led the NCAA to reduce its use of the Garden, and caused some schools, including 1950 NCAA and NIT Champion City College of New York (CCNY), to be banned from playing at the Garden.
On November 3, 1960, Penn Station's owners Pennsylvania Railroad announced they had sold the air rights to the Madison Square Garden corporation to build a new arena to replace Penn Station's original building. Previously the Madison Square Garden was looking to replace the arena as early as the 1950's as poor sight lines caused problems for the upper decks. Even though the Rangers play was poor in this time period, they still sold out game after game. Added with the rising popularity of the Knicks, the demand for a new arena was needed. Demolition on Penn Station commenced in 1963 and Madison Square Garden was completed in 1968 with its first event being held in February 12, 1968. Originally the Garden was planned to close down at the end of the summer of 1967 however construction delays prevented that from happening which pushed the opening in February 1968. The final Rangers game was held on February 11, 1968, the game resulted in a 3-3 tie against the Detroit Red Wings. Jean Ratelle was the last player to score a goal in the arena at 19:15 remaining in the third. After the game, a number of former Ranger greats along with players representing other NHL teams of the past 43 years including New York Americans players skated on the ice in a closure ceremony. Two days later, the last event took place in the Garden, the Westminster Dog Show.
There were no plans to keep the old Madison Square Garden and demolition commenced in the summer of 1968. It finished in early 1969. When the third Madison Square Garden was torn down, there was a proposal to build the world's tallest building on the site, prompting a major battle in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood where it was located. Ultimately, the debate resulted in strict height restrictions in the area. The space remained a parking lot until 1989 when Worldwide Plaza, designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, opened on the site of the old Garden.
