Rumors continued to swirl Thursday about whether pop star Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce plan to marry at New York City’s Madison Square Garden over the July 4 Independence Day weekend, after city officials confirmed that a street closure permit had been filed nearby.
Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, told the BBC that a permit was filed in early June to close roads around Madison Square Garden from July 2 to July 4. Pekec did not say who filed the application, and CNN reported that neither Kelce’s nor Swift’s name was on it.
The New York Times first reported the permit news and that several players on Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs team had booked hotel rooms nearby. The outlet reported that Swift will have an intimate gathering of 100 people at Madison Square Garden on July 2, followed by a bigger celebration on July 3 with potential performances at the event.
The Times also reported that Amtrak police officers — who provide security at Penn Station underneath the arena — have been told to expect a Swift wedding during the busy holiday weekend.
Swift and Kelce announced their engagement in August. Since then, fans have obsessively hunted for clues about where the two will wed, scouring Swift’s music and social media for hints. Rumored locations ranged from Swift’s Rhode Island compound to Madison Square Garden, with fans also guessing the event would fall sometime during the summer and include a guest list of notable celebrities.
The potential venue choice surprised many Swift fans, who envisioned the singer getting married in a more scenic outdoor location such as a spot near her oceanside Rhode Island mansion. The couple’s engagement photos show Kelce proposing to Swift in a garden decorated with dozens of flowers.
Madison Square Garden — a windowless 19,500-seat arena in Midtown Manhattan — has no natural light and offers little in terms of scenic views.
Molly Gaffney, a Swift fan from Albany, New York, said the location choice made “little to no sense.”
“Her getting married in Manhattan at all, let alone during the Fourth of July during America 250, plus the World Cup, is insanity,” Gaffney said, referencing the 250th anniversary of the U.S. and the FIFA World Cup games taking place nearby. The city is planning several events related to the nation’s 250th birthday for the July 4 weekend.
“This dark, industrial location as her wedding venue couldn’t be more perplexing,” Gaffney said.
Some fans speculated that Swift was using the arena to distract from her real wedding venue, but Gaffney said it seemed like much effort just for a decoy.
To other fans, Madison Square Garden — where Swift has performed several times and where the championship-winning New York Knicks play — made sense symbolically and practically for the singer and her football star fiance.
“MSG is where music and sports come together at the most famous venue in the world,” said Nicki Vleisides, a New York City resident who co-hosts a podcast about Swift’s music. “The more I’ve thought about it, it kind of seems like the perfect choice for both Taylor and Travis and their respective industries.”
Vleisides’ podcast co-host, Andie Furber, said the arena was also ideal from a security perspective.
“No drones or paparazzi can get in or out, and Taylor, Travis and guests can enter underground from blocks away with no chance of getting photographed,” Furber said. The arena has a separate private entrance and ramp where celebrities can enter.
The occasion would mark another massive security undertaking for the city’s largest indoor arena, which hosted President Donald Trump earlier this month for an NBA finals game featuring the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.