The world knows Madison Square Garden has banned “adversarial” attorneys from its events and venues, including Knicks and Rangers games. And the company uses facial-recognition technology to enforce its highly-criticized policy. The recent Mom-booted-from-the-Rockettes debacle served as a reminder of that.
But MSG apparently goes much farther than locking out those who work for law firms involved in active litigation against its holdings. Facial-recognition is used to monitor, harass and sometimes bar elebrities and fans who have criticized owner James Dolan, according to a chilling report by Ethan Strauss, a longtime NBA reporter for The Athletic and ESPN who now publishes independently on Substack.
Strauss reports MSG acknowledged, but did not respond to, his requests for comment and information. MSG told The Post the report was “written by an unqualified blogger with multiple inaccuracies and incorrect facts,” but offered no clarifications on what is inaccurate and incorrect.
Among the report’s revelations:
• On-the-record comments from a fan who said he has been approached by MSG security multiple times at Knicks and Rangers games, presumably because he once commented “Sell the team” on JD & the Straight Shot’s Facebook page.
• MSG utilizes a code system to catalog offenders. Actor/Knicks fan Michael Rapoport is banned while director/Knicks superfan Spike Lee is constantly monitored and has his movements restricted.
• “Roughly 200 people are flagged in the security system strictly because they’ve offended James Dolan.”
• Security officials are wary of the system and feel the technology is being abused and utilized in a way that is counter-productive to actual event safety.
Here’s the bottom line: The stuff with the attorneys is newsworthy and petty, but ultimately small potatoes. What Strauss reports — and MSG has done absolutely nothing to refute — is far more. The time for NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to cowboy up and intervene is long-gone. They should have reigned in Dolan’s many despotic actions, but they failed. The onus is now on Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul. Because what Strauss alleges is definitely a public safety problem and, it would seem, is potentially a civil rights issue.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
