Knicks postpone game at Garden after debris falls
A fan walks towards the entrance to Madison Square Garden with her ticket only to find out that the NBA basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic was postponed Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, in New York. The game was postponed because of safety concerns after debris fell into the arena during overnight cleaning of asbestos-related materials. A spokesman for New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, Farrell Sklerov, said the agency's inspectors were on the scene and had determined that no asbestos had been released. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill) Credit: AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill
The Knicks were taking no chances when they decided to postpone last night's scheduled game against the Orlando Magic in the afternoon because of an asbestos concern at Madison Square Garden. Tests later in the day proved the arena to be safe, but the Magic already had headed home with a return trip to New York to make up the game not yet scheduled.
Workers were in an attic space above the Garden's famed copper ceiling late Monday night cleaning asbestos-related material when some of the debris was inadvertently pushed through an opening and released into the air above the arena floor below. The presence of asbestos, a material found in many of the city's older structures because it is flame-retardant, caused an immediate stoppage of work on the arena floor, where Garden employees were in the process of transforming the ice surface for Monday's Rangers-Blackhawks game into a basketball venue for last night's Knicks-Magic game.
Initial tests of air sampling stations at the Garden raised concerns about the level of fibers that were in the air inside the arena. The Garden consulted with two independent companies, ATC Associates and GCI Environmental Advisory, as well as the NBA, to determine whether the arena was safe. Testing indicated that the fibers were non-asbestos, but the Garden wanted those findings confirmed by the city's Department of Environmental Protection. The decision was made around 2:30 p.m. to postpone the game, which was scheduled for a 7:40 p.m. tip-off. The DEP declared the arena safe shortly afterward.
"Basically, it's a false alarm,'' said Farrell Sklerov, a spokesman for the DEP. "Essentially, that's what it is. Obviously you take every precaution, but fortunately the results came back negative.''
Sklerov added that "at no point was there a health risk because there never was any asbestos in the air.''
It was the first time the Knicks postponed a home game since Jan. 7, 1996, when a snowstorm caused the rescheduling of a game against the Sonics. Only seven times before have the Knicks postponed home games, with all but one - the 1965 blackout postponed the Nov. 9 game against the St. Louis Hawks - related to the weather.
The Knicks play in Chicago Thursday night against the Bulls and return to the Garden on Friday to host the Washington Wizards.
Initially there were concerns about whether that game would have to be moved and a source with knowledge of the situation said the Prudential Center in Newark - where the Nets are temporarily playing until the Brooklyn-based Barclays Arena is completed - was the planned alternative site for that game.
The team released a statement Tuesday afternoon that said last night's game would be postponed "out of an abundance of caution'' and that the Garden would not be reopened "until we are absolutely assured the arena is safe.''
Though the Magic was inconvenienced by the fruitless trip to New York - the team took a 6 p.m. charter back to Orlando - the NBA was in full support of the decision. According to a league source, the Knicks are not likely to face any fines for having an unplayable venue. The source did indicate that the team may have to compensate the Magic for a return trip to New York for the rescheduled game.
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