Knicks Owner James Dolan Hires a Private Investigator to Tail State Liquor Authority Investigator, as the Battle Over Madison Square Garden Continues
Executive chairman and Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan, center, watches during the first half of an New York Knicks game. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP Photo)
James Dolan, CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG), reportedly hired a private investigator to follow a New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) investigator. The SLA is currently looking into whether several MSG properties should have their liquor licenses revoked. This all began with Dolan banning lawyers involved in litigation against himself and MSG from the venue.
The controversy of banning lawyers was added to when it was discovered facial recognition technology was used to identify and deny entry to lawyers. This prompted the SLA to charge administrative fees to several MSG properties. Dolan has been very vocal about his dislike of the SLA and in statements has called the liquor authority a “gangster-like governmental organization.”
According to the New York Times, the SLA assigned an investigator named Charles Starvelle, who is a retired police captain, to the case in order to determine if MSG can continue serving alcohol at Knicks and Rangers games. New York state liquor licenses require establishments to admit the public which means banning only some visitors would violate this license.
As reported, Starvelle called the NYPD after he noticed a black Chevrolet was following him for over 100 miles until reaching his home in Queens. Then, the car remained parked there and appeared to be staking out the premises with a camera pointed toward Stravelle’s house.
Police determined the Chevrolet driver was a private investigator.
MSG acknowledged that it hired a private investigator to shadow Stravalle and said this was “a common and lawful practice,” according to documents obtained by New York Post.
“MSG didn’t start this,” MSG co-counsel Jim Walden said. “What is happening at the SLA is just improper — it is a bureaucracy out of control … We will expose the SLA’s misconduct through the legal tools we have to defend MSG.”
Some are calling the use of a private investigator a form of intimidation.
State Sen. Brad Holyman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) said, “To try to intimidate the regulating agency through a private investigator, who of all things was arrested for carrying an illegal weapon, is outrageous.”
It seems apparent that MSG and Dolan have no plans of simply following the SLA’s rules. This conflict does not appear to be near resolution any time soon.
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