Madison Square Garden Bowl was the name of an outdoor

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Built in 1932, the arena hosted circuses and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

matches. Its

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

was 72,000 spectators on wood bleachers. The idea of the stadium came from boxing promotor

Tex Rickard George Lewis "Tex" Rickard (January 2, 1870 – January 6, 1929) was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden in New York City ...

, who died before it was completed. The Bowl, located at 48th Street and

Northern Boulevard New York State Route 25A (NY 25A) is a state highway on Long Island in New York, United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running for from Interstate 495 (I-495) at th ...

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

, was the site where

James J. Braddock James Walter Braddock (June 7, 1905 – November 29, 1974) was an American boxer who was the world heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937. Fighting under the name James J. Braddock (ostensibly to follow the pattern set by two prior world boxing ...

defeated Max Baer for the World Heavyweight title on June 13, 1935, a fight later dramatized in the film ''

Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny ...

''. Braddock's first comeback fight against John "Corn" Griffin was also in the venue. Jack Sharkey and

Primo Carnera Primo may refer to: People *DJ Premier (born 1966), hip-hop producer, sometimes goes by nickname Primo *Primo Carnera (1906–1967), Italian boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1933–1934 * Primo Cassarino (born 1956), enforcer for the Gambino cr ...

also captured the heavyweight crown in the 1930s at the Bowl. But because no titleholder ever successfully defended his title there, the stadium was soon dubbed the "Jinx Bowl". The Madison Square Garden Bowl was torn down during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to make way for a US Army Mail Depot (and also because arena management deemed it more economical to rent baseball stadiums for fights). Metal from the stadium was melted down to make bullets and other war materials, including those to build the Mail Depot. The depot itself was torn down in the 1960s, and the area is now home to a Major World used-car dealership and strip mall.

References

External links

Venue information
*https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/nyregion/thecity/for-a-forgotten-arena-an-unexpected-star-turn.html 1932 establishments in New York City Defunct boxing venues in the United States Boxing venues in New York City Sports venues in Queens, New York Demolished sports venues in New York (state) Former sports venues in New York City Long Island City Sports venues completed in 1932 1945 disestablishments in New York (state) Sports venues demolished in 1945 {{NYC-sport-stub

See also

References

External links