When to leave for a show at Madison Square Garden.

Show night at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York. Not sure which time on the ticket matters? The concert night plan covers doors, opener and headliner at any venue; this page is about this one.

Every row is editable. Tap the showtime or any duration and the plan recomputes backward. The first travel row is your leave-by time.

Travel time to Madison Square Garden

The 35-minute ride is a typical run from New York on an ordinary evening (the optimistic number). In the app, set Madison Square Garden as the destination and Apple Maps fills in the time from where you’re leaving.

Then add for show night: the same train carrying everyone else with a ticket (real journey to Madison Square Garden). Change the row and every step before it moves.

What the time on the ticket means

The time on the ticket is when the first act is due on, and at most shows here the doors opened an hour earlier. With a general-admission ticket that gap is not spare: the spot on the floor you get is decided by where you are in the line when the doors open, and everyone with the same idea is on the same walk in. So the plan puts you in that line before doors, and the stretch from doors to showtime is a row of its own.

With a reserved seat the deadline really is the show. Aim to be in your seat ten minutes before the first act, and budget the walk to your row: it is the part people misjudge, not the drive.

Here is the evening drawn to scale. A maps app can number the ride in. The rest is the queue at the door, the screening, and the walk to your row.

Getting to Madison Square Garden

Almost nobody should drive to this one. The Garden is built on top of Penn Station, so the A, C and E and the 1, 2 and 3 put you underneath it at 34th Street–Penn Station, and the B, D, F, M, N, Q and R leave you one block east at Herald Square. PATH from New Jersey stops at 33rd Street and Avenue of the Americas, which is a walk rather than the station below; the Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit do terminate underneath.

From Metro-North it is the shuttle or the 7 from Grand Central to Times Square, then the 1, 2 or 3 down one stop. NY Waterway runs ferries into Midtown at West 39th with a free shuttle from the pier. Buses M4, M10, M16, M34 and Q32 stop at 7th Avenue and Penn Station. Coming up out of Penn Station is its own small journey: it is a large station with several exits, and the one you want is the one nearest the entrance printed on your ticket.

The gate, the bag, and the stairs

Doors are an hour before showtime at most shows. Everyone goes through screening, and the venue asks you to empty your pockets of keys, wallet and phone and to take off hats, sunglasses and anything covering your face before you reach the screening area.

Bags are the part worth thinking about at home: every bag is x-rayed whatever its size, it has to fit comfortably under your seat, and nothing larger than 22 by 14 by 9 inches is allowed at all. There is no bag check and no coat check, so a bag that fails either test has nowhere to go. Outside food and drink are not allowed. Neither is re-entry, and the venue is blunt about it: all exits are final, so eat before you go in.

Doors, lots and bag rules change; the official site is the live source.

Common questions

How early should I get to Madison Square Garden?

For a general-admission ticket, be in the line before doors, which are an hour before showtime at most shows here. Be there half an hour before they open, and the ticket chip rebuilds the plan around that. For a reserved seat, aim to be at the gate half an hour before the show, which is what the plan above shows. The part to budget for is the queue at the door. Carrying a bag adds about ten minutes to that.

What time should I leave for an 8:00 PM show at Madison Square Garden?

About 6:35 PM from New York with a reserved seat, coming in on public transport, travelling light. Earlier for a general-admission floor ticket or a bag to screen. Every row above is editable; the first travel row is your leave-by time.

How does parking work at Madison Square Garden?

There is no venue car park. The Garden sits over Penn Station and the parking around it is commercial garages, which the venue asks you to book ahead through SpotHero, its official parking app. There is no designated rideshare zone; drop-off and pickup are on 7th or 8th Avenue between 31st and 34th, and Access-A-Ride stops on 7th Avenue southbound, just north of 31st. The official Madison Square Garden site is where the current arrangements are posted.

Can I take a bus or train to Madison Square Garden?

Yes, and it is the reason to leave the car at home. The venue is directly above Penn Station: A, C and E and 1, 2 and 3 to 34th Street–Penn Station, and B, D, F, M, N, Q and R to Herald Square one block east.

PATH stops at 33rd Street and Avenue of the Americas, a walk away rather than underneath, while the Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit come into the station below. Metro-North connects via Times Square. Buses M4, M10, M16, M34 and Q32 stop at 7th Avenue and Penn Station.

What bag can I bring into Madison Square Garden?

Any bag that fits comfortably under your seat, up to a hard ceiling of 22 by 14 by 9 inches; it does not have to be clear, but every bag is x-rayed whatever its size. There is no bag check and no coat check, so a bag that fails either test has nowhere to go. No outside food or drink, and no re-entry once you are in.

Going to a game instead? The stadium pages. Flying in? The airport pages.

Build it once, then use it every show

Ready Time keeps the plan and subtracts again when the show time changes. Put in the next ticket and the same steps land on new times, with an alert on each one.