MSG kingpin James Dolan and associates gave generously to Mayor Adams amid NYC business interests

Billionaire Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan, unneurotic with his relatives and concern associates, pumped much than $60,000 into Mayor Adams’ ineligible and governmental coffers this summertime — adjacent arsenic his institution had cardinal concern interests earlier the metropolis and lobbied apical City Hall officials astir them, according to a Daily News reappraisal of nationalist records.

Those issues see the heavily-debated question of however agelong MSG’s captious peculiar permit — which allows it to run atop Penn Station – should beryllium renewed for.

But the donations were permissible. While the MSG concern entity is not allowed to marque specified contributions, Dolan and the different individuals who gave are. Nearly each the Dolan-connected contributions to Adams’ ineligible defence trust and reelection run came connected July 10, July 15 and July 26, records show.

For the trust, the donations, each of which were successful the ineligible maximum magnitude of $5,000, totaled $45,000 — conscionable nether fractional of the $92,500 Adams’ money raised implicit the past disclosure period, from July 1 to Sept. 30. The flurry of contributions came from James Dolan, his 3 big sons, his father, a manager of his Madison Square Garden Co., the same’s institution vice chairman, a longtime amusement concern spouse to Dolan and an ex-president of his MSG Network, The News’ reappraisal found.

James Dolan, his 3 sons, his dada and the aforesaid concern associates besides gave different $16,800 to Adams’ 2025 run successful July, each contributing the ineligible max of $2,100, each connected the aforesaid time they besides made their spot donations. Additionally, 2 much MSG Co. directors, including James Dolan’s sister, each gave $2,100 to Adams’ 2025 run connected the aforesaid dates successful July.

It’s unclear if the Dolan household concern donations to Adams — which totaled $66,000 — were made arsenic portion of immoderate fundraising events.

Madison Square Garden successful 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News)

MSG spokespeople didn’t instrumentality requests for remark Thursday, and neither did Dolan, who’s besides a large Donald Trump donor.

City Hall spokesperson Fabien Levy referred each questions to Vito Pitta, a lawyer for Adams’ defence spot and reelection campaign, who didn’t respond to messages.

MSG Entertainment, a institution James Dolan serves arsenic the CEO of, is successful the city’s Doing Business database, which lists entities engaged successful fiscal dealings with the municipal government. Individuals successful that database are legally barred from giving immoderate currency to metropolis ineligible defence trusts and can’t lend much than $400 to mayoral campaigns, a regularisation designed to forestall pay-to-play corruption successful metropolis government.

However, Dolan and his executives aren’t restricted by those rules, arsenic they aren’t personally listed successful the database.

Government watchdogs person agelong lamented the information that apical executives of companies successful the database aren’t automatically included. In a missive to the Campaign Finance Board past year, the heads of 5 New York authorities watchdog groups, including Reinvent Albany, Citizens Union and Common Cause, called it “a elephantine loophole.”

The Dolans’ fiscal enactment for Adams came connected the heels of the MSG companies spending hundreds of thousands of dollars connected lobbying his medication and the City Council connected assorted concern issues, nationalist records show.

Last year, MSG had its in-house authorities relations squad and consultants from the Greenberg Traurig and Kramer Levin instrumentality firms lobby metropolis officials connected securing a peculiar licence the Madison Square Garden arena needs to run successful its longtime location connected apical of Penn Station.

Targets of that lobbying included Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ main adviser, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi and assorted Departments of Transportation and City Planning officials, records show. The lobbying besides targeted Council members.

The Council yet granted MSG a five-year permit. Adams, who had the powerfulness to veto the licence decision, allowed it to lapse into law.

Dolan, who besides owns the sports teams that telephone MSG home, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, expressed disappointment successful the five-year term, having agelong argued the arena deserves a licence without an expiration date. The licence is simply a substance of existential endurance for the iconic arena.  Council members person said they gave MSG a five-year renewal, successful part, to unit Dolan to bash much to assistance successful the semipermanent redesign of Penn Station.

Council members person argued Dolan’s institution needs to bash much to assistance revitalize the bid hub, with determination astatine 1 constituent adjacent being discussions astir kicking the Garden wholly retired of its location to marque mode for a caller station. Those discussions person fizzled, and Paul Macchia, MSG’s authorities affairs executive, is connected the 55-member moving radical discussing adjacent steps astir the aboriginal of Penn Station.

Besides the peculiar licence issue, MSG besides lobbied Adams’ medication and the Council past twelvemonth connected a measure that’d prohibit venues similar MSG from utilizing facial designation exertion to place patrons. That measure was introduced aft Dolan drew aggravated criticism for utilizing specified tech to place lawyers for companies suing him and past person them booted from the arena during sports games and concerts.

After MSG’s lobbying, the measure stalled and ne'er passed the Council successful 2023.

But Brooklyn Councilwoman Shahana Hanif, a Democrat who penned the bill, re-introduced it this year. She told The News connected Thursday it has gotten 27 co-sponsors, surpassing the bulk threshold required for passage.

“New Yorkers shouldn’t person to endure dystopian biometric scans to cheer for the Knicks,” Hanif said.

With Téa Kvetenadze