“He’s Known For Being Small”: James Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Saga Is Getting More Messy By The Minute
Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan known for his fiery reputation. He emailed an elderly man that he was a “disgusting mess” when he questioned his leadership over the Knicks and told another audience he could “love watching games on TV” after he yelled at him to sell the team while he was leaving a game. Former Knicks player Charles Oakley once sued Dolan alleging he had him forcibly leave the stage in a game to publicly embarrass him (a fee dolan refuses). Up until now, it’s all been seen as his gruff New York style.
But the decision to hunt down and kick the attorneys — and their entire law firm — from MSG using facial recognition has provoked a wave of outcry that could mean Garden faces serious legal challenges. disciplinary action regarding its liquor license and has questioned its special license to operate and its special property tax exemption 43 million dollars a year.
Dolan’s use of AI software now has him facing not only 90 law firms that are actively litigating against the Madison Square Garden firm but also against the New York State Liquor Regulatory Authority for could violate the conditions of the venue’s liquor license, the state’s attorney general requires proof that the facial recognition policy does not violate the law that discriminates against citizens and members of the establishment. state legislators and the New York City Council, who are now questioning why the site received a special tax break and why it still sits atop a dilapidated Penn station.
Dolan, better known for avoiding the press, took a full-blown attack on Fox 5 New York’s morning show on January 26. He said the lawyers are prohibited from representing “ambulance chasers” and “ticket speculators”; accuse politicians of jumping into the group because they “like the clicks”; and declared the New York State Liquor Authority CEO to be “outstanding”. He said, as a man who had been sober for 29 years, alcohol was not important to him, and challenged the board to strip him of his driver’s license. His company is also said to have increased staffing by hiring former Trump officials hope hicks and retained nine members of the company Greenberg Traurig to act as lobbyists for their interests in Albany.
He said he plans to comply with the attorney general’s request to provide a justification for his facial recognition program with evidence that the program complies with all existing discriminatory laws. Launched before February 13th and very confident with AG Letitia James will eventually find his use of facial recognition legal. Dolan said he’s been using facial recognition since 2018 to provide a safe and secure environment for our customers and ourselves, and will continue to use it “as a tool to prevent block adverse attorneys from our location.”
“I don’t care if they’re lawyers or whatever you might say you serve,” Dolan said. “If there’s someone you don’t want to serve, you can say, ‘I don’t want to serve you.’ And if someone is suing you and trying to get you out of business or take your money, then you have every right to be a little bit unhappy about that.”
The timing of Dolan’s outburst couldn’t have been worse for him. MSG’s special 10-year license to operate a venue with a capacity of more than 2,500 people expires in June. NY City Council Member Erik Bottcher, who represents district 3 where MSG is located, Dolan said the city want MSG to relocate because Penn Station is in dire need of renovation. In 2013, Dolan was granted a short-term license, rather than the required permanent license, for that reason.
Bottcher is leading the effort to get MSG to move to the last stretch of the still undeveloped Hudson Yards railway and build a new state-of-the-art arena on the water, but Dolan is adamant that he will stay. . “No, I’m not moving Madison Square Garden,” said Dolan fox 5 Have a nice day in New York. “It’s easy for people to get there, yes, and you know honestly, we’ve invested billions of dollars in the building.”
Controversy over the use of facial recognition software did not help Dolan’s goals, Bottcher said. “I certainly don’t think James Dolan is doing anything to immobilize himself on the [facial-recognition] problem,” Bottcher said. “The publicity around it has been terrible for him at an inopportune moment.”
Larry Hutcher, a Knicks seasonal ticket holder, a founding partner at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, who sued MSG on behalf of 24 ticket agents alleging it violated the New York Arts and Culture Act (ACAL), said he knew from the start that he could face some kind of consequences against Dolan. Fourteen days after filing the complaint, the company received a letter stating that all of its attorneys would be barred from all MSG-owned and operated venues (including Radio City Music Hall). and the Beacon Theatre.)
