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So...when will the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden again?

Update (7:31): Friday.

Hello, goslings. I hope you all enjoyed the time vacated by last night's Knicks-Magic carcinogenic rain check. While you and I were catching up on homework/spending time with the lady/having peaceful slumbers free of Dwight Howard nightmares, MSG officials were scrambling to remedy their asbestos issue. The health police deemed MSG perfectly safe, which would seem to suggest that business can resume for the Knicks' match-up against the Wizards on Friday. According to Marc Berman, though, the Garden bros aren't setting a timetable just yet:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that even though there was no health risk, the arena's operators deserve credit for putting fan safety first.

A spokeswoman for Madison Square Garden declined to comment on the timetable for a return to normal operations.

If the clean-up doesn't go as planned (i.e. more digging in the Garden attic reveals...BEES!!!!), the word is that the Knicks might pinch their noses and cross the river:

Tuesday night's game between the Knicks and Magic was postponed due to a fear that asbestos was released into the arena during a cleaning process. But testing later revealed that dangerous particles did not get into the seating areas, and an NBA official cited by the Star-Ledger said that issues at the Garden will be resolved "very soon" and that alternate venues will not be needed.

"They believe they can get this cleaned up by Wednesday, and they won't have to move any games -- they'll just have to reschedule the Magic game," the official said, according to the Newark Star-Ledger, which first reported the story. "But if it gets on past Thursday, the Knicks said they'll get back to the people in Newark."

So, at the very least, we can expect the rest of the Knicks' schedule to go as planned. It sounds like a game at The Rock (people call it that, right?) is merely a last resort, but it's good to know that our Knicks have somewhere to quarter in the event of catastrophe. As you can see, MSG has seen much worse. Asbestos ain't NOTHIN, y'all.

As a side note, this all means that Friday's P&T Game Viewing Party (I think I'm gonna start calling it the P&T Live Game Thread. If somebody says something and you'd like to reply, you have to stand next to them, but at a slightly lower height.) should go as planned. Remember to email me if you're interested in attending.