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The New York Knicks begin defense of their NBA championship against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday in a matchup for the ages. And I’m not saying that because the game’s oldest player, LeBron James, will be on the court. I’m saying that because Madison Square Garden is the game’s oldest building.

Opened in 1968, the arena is in superposition. That is to say it is decaying physically and undecaying in the city’s heart. In NBA folklore this is “The Mecca” — but how many more people would attend and spend how much more money if the Knicks played in a modern venue? By today’s Intuit Dome standards, keeping the team in a 60-year-old building is leaving a lot of money on the table. Money, after all, is why the Chicago Bears are considering leaving the century-old Soldier Field, for a new spot in Hammond, Ind. And money is why ValueRock wants to knock down Mel’s Drive-In to build an eight-story apartment building.

Since 1959 — before the Knicks moved to the Garden and before the Bears made Soldier Field home — the midcentury design of that diner has meant the end of the westward drive on Route 66. For a lot of people, that’s a “Who cares?” For many others, like the preservationists pushing to save Mel’s, the mere thought of demolishing the iconic restaurant is offensive. Eating there was certainly on our bingo card when my son and........

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