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Madison Square Garden sues NY State Liquor Authority as agency mulls booze ban
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Mar 12, 2023
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Sergii Figurnyi / Shutterstock
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Mar 12, 2023
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Madison Square Garden filed a lawsuit against the New York State Liquor Authority on Saturday, arguing the agency is a "cesspool of corruption" as the regulators take steps to revoke the venue’s liquor license.
The SLA earlier this year threatened to ban liquor sales at MSG venues after discovering the venue’s CEO James Dolan used facial recognition technology to blacklist his corporate enemies from games and concerts. Agency officials said the policy violates the Alcohol Beverage Law, which requires liquor license-holders to allow public access to their premises.
Dolan seeks a judge to stop the SLA from revoking the Garden’s liquor license. “This gangster-like governmental organization has finally run up against an entity that won’t cower in the face of their outrageous abuses,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
The 47-page suit spends nearly 10 pages detailing the SLA’s “long history of corruption and bad faith,” including a reference to former SLA Chairman receiving tens of thousands in bribes from the Playboy Club in exchange for a liquor license in the 1960s.
In December, MSG guards booted a woman chaperoning her daughter’s Girl Scout troop from a Rockettes show after cameras matched her face with a database of lawyers working for law firms with active litigation against MSG Entertainment, the holding company that also oversees Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre.
In a January interview, Dolan added SLA Chairman Sharif Kabir to his growing list of grudges, holding up a sheet of paper featuring Kabir’s photo, email and phone number. Dolan threatened to hand out the flyers to fans at Madison Square Garden if alcohol sales were banned.
“This is the antithesis of how government is supposed to make decisions. It is conduct so unconscionable that it cries out for this Court’s intervention to put an immediate end to the SLA’s abuse of power,” the suit alleges.
MSG’s 10-year license to host shows and games above Penn Station is set to expire in July. The company earlier this year requested a permanent permit to operate at the space.
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Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
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