New York lawmakers prepare to introduce bill to fight James Dolan’s ban on supposed enemies visiting Madison Square Garden (exclusive)

A new state law would bar controversial Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan from preventing alleged enemies from participating in sporting events such as Knicks and Rangers games, according to the bill’s supporters.

They plan to introduce legislation on Monday, amid Dolan’s crackdown on lawyers who work for firms involved in lawsuits against MSG Entertainment.

“New Yorkers are outraged that Madison Square Garden is kicking fans out of their venues simply because they are seen as corporate enemies of James Dolan,” the bill’s author, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Segal, told Daily News.

“This is a direct and simple fix to New York State civil rights law that will hopefully prevent fans from being denied entry just because they work for a law firm that may have a client in a lawsuit against Madison Square Garden Entertainment.” he added.

In recent months, lawyers have been kicked out of the Garden and Radio City music hall, also run by Dolan, after they were identified using facial recognition technology.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Segal.

An employment lawyer is suing MSG Entertainment, citing a 1941 law that prohibits “wrongful denial” of customers with a valid ticket to “places of public amusement or entertainment.”

A new bill from Hoylman-Sigal, State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Tony Simone, all Manhattan Democrats, will expand the old law to cover sporting events.

Earlier this month, MSG employees ejected Benjamin Pinchevsky from a Rangers game after he was detected by facial recognition technology. Like two others recently kicked out of the Garden and a woman kicked out of Radio City Music Hall, Pinczewski works for a law firm involved in the MSG lawsuit, though he doesn’t personally handle the case.

MSG insists that the policy is legal.

“While we understand that this policy is frustrating for some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently hostile environment,” The News previously reported. “All affected lawyers have been notified of the policy.”

James Dolan, Executive Chairman of Madison Square Garden Sports Corp.

Along with issues of fairness, MSG’s use of facial recognition technology has raised concerns among privacy advocates.

Hoylman-Segal said he is working on legislation to address the latter issue.

“Studies show that biometric technologies discriminate against people of color and LGBTQ people, in particular transgender people,” he said. “It’s not perfect.

“Secondly, this is such an invasion of someone’s privacy, and there is growing concern about what happens to this data after it has been collected by private entities such as Madison Square Garden,” the senator added.

Lawyer Ken Halperin, whose firm Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin was among those notified by MSG Entertainment that employees would not be allowed to attend its events, welcomed the new bill.

“It is dangerous for any person to ban a class of people who are essentially doing their job representing the citizens of the state and possibly other people,” he said. “What’s next? Who will be banned next?”

Halperin, a Knicks and Rangers fan, said he has not been to any games since his firm was notified of the holiday ban.

“Facial recognition should not be used as a weapon against your enemies,” he said. “It should be used to identify criminals, possibly terrorists, not people who disagree with you.”

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