It Happened Today in New York City
On February 11, 1968, the new Madison Square Garden opened with a salute to the USO. Built over the platforms of the old Penn Station, the arena hosted such luminaries as Senator Jacob Javits, Chase Bank Chairman George Champion, Mayor John Lindsay, athletes Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney, and entertainers Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Now the oldest major sporting facility in New York City, Madison Square Garden is the home of the New York Knicks, the New York Liberty, the New York Rangers, and has a resident performer contract with Billy Joel, who holds the record for the most performances at the venue.
- Posted in: Almanac
Beautiful New York 
I was directed to this blog by a response from a trip advisor member who said she worked with you at GANYC. The post asked about boxing tours, which intrigued me. The lady mentioned you were a boxing history enthusiast.
A bit of rambly background information… I’ve lived in Manassa, CO all my life. This July 4th is the 100th anniversary of Jack Dempsey’s title win and we here in Manassa are trying to put together something to celebrate that. I also work at the Jack Dempsey Museum. Coincidentally, I’m coming to New York the week before and am dying to do some scouting of places associated with Jack. I’ve never been to New York and am from a town with a population of right at 1,000 people and know I’ll be out of my depth wandering around looking between a map on my cell phone and lots of very tall buildings trying to make heads or tails of it all.
Which brings me to my point. I wondered if you knew much about places associated with Jack and if so you’d help me navigate them. I know it’s been quite a few years since his actual restaurant closed but I’d love to see where it used to be. Anything else related to him would also be of interest. If you could point me in the right direction or even better I’d be thrilled to pay you for an official tour of such things when I’m out there this summer. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated. I also manage the Jack Dempsey Museum facebook page if you’d rather contact me through that. Thank you for your time!
Hi Randi,
Thank you so much for your inquiry. I am definitely a fan of Dempsey and other fighters of the era. I’m not sure I have enough material to serve as the basis for a tour solely about Dempsey, but could certainly give a general boxing history tour that includes Dempsey-related sites. Please email me at baker.tours@yahoo.com and we will discuss further. Many thanks.