Irving Mitchell Felt (25 January 1909 – 22 September 1994) was a New York businessman who led the drive in the 1960s to build a new Madison Square Garden.
At the age of 19, he graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Finance and then took a job with the Wall Street concern, Hayden Stone.
[2] In July 1961, Felt announced that he would demolish McKim, Mead, and White's Pennsylvania Station at West 33rd Street and 7th Avenue and build a new Madison Square Garden at the site.
[1] Despite the controversy generated over the demolition, Felt stated that he "believed that the gain from the new buildings and sports center would more than offset any aesthetic loss" and that "Fifty years from now, when its time for [the new Madison Square Garden] to be torn down, there will be a new group of architects who will protest.
[1] He was a major fund-raiser for the Senator Jacob Javits of New York and served as campaign chairman in 1990 for Republican congressional candidate Jim Salomon in his race against San Fernando Valley Representative Anthony Beilenson.