SOBERING TURN
SLA move vs. Dolan opens up booze ban
It could be last call for alcohol at The Garden.
The State Liquor Authority has initiated proceedings which could strip Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre of their liquor licenses, The Post has learned.
The agency slapped the James Dolan-owned properties with administrative charges over his banishment of attorneys from the venues who are in active litigation against him or the Garden, The Post has learned. If successful, the SLA could prevent fans from enjoying a brew at Rangers and Knicks games or nog at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
The four violations, which have not been previously reported, were received via certified mail Feb. 21. The SLA has demanded a formal plea from Dolan’s properties by March 15.
Instead, Dolan, 67, went scorched earth, filing an Article 78 petition Saturday in Manhattan Supreme Court asking a judge to stop the SLA violations, calling the enforcement “an abuse of power.”
“This gangster-like governmental organization has finally run up against an entity that won’t cower in the face of their outrageous abuses,” Dolan told The Post. “While others that have been subject to this harassment may have been forced into submission or silence, we are taking a stand on behalf of our fans and the many small businesses who have long been subject to the SLA’s corruption.”
Dolan’s corporate entity, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., charged in the fiery 47-page filing: “The SLA’s improper actions are an assault on not only MSG, but also all of its fans.”
The SLA has been probing if Dolan’s bans, and his use of facial-recognition tech to enforce them, violate state rules. Word of the attorney ban first surfaced last year, but the controversy exploded in January, when a lawyer escorting her daughter’s Girl Scout troop to a show at Radio City Music Hall was refused entry.
The combative billionaire threatened to nix booze for a New York Rangers game at the Garden during a January TV interview. Dolan even held up an image of SLA boss Sharif Kabir and warned he would send thirsty fans his way to complain.
Kabir, SLA lawyer Michael Ammirato and investigator Charles Stravalle — who subjected Dolan to a tough interview about the MSG policy last month — were named in the court papers.
The filing additionally accused Stravalle, a former NYPD officer, of launching a “harassment campaign against MSG.”
The legal papers also alleged that “questions were raised about crime statistics reported in the precinct where [Stravalle] had been the commanding officer.”
The Garden’s “policy” of targeting attorneys means MSG properties are no longer “open to the public,” the SLA argued in levying the charges, noting the “adverse attorney policy” bars members of the public “not for reasons to do with responsibilities under the license, but because such persons have pending lawsuits” against the venues.
The liquor license requires the venues to be open to “the public at large,” the SLA argued.
The Garden slammed that conclusion as “irrational” and the SLA’s move as “selective enforcement.”
“Many bars and nightclubs regularly exclude patrons who do not meet certain dress codes, display a certain ‘vibe’ or ‘energy,’ act in a certain manner, arrive in a large group of a certain gender, or even have certain skin colors,” the filing argued.
MSG accused the authority of being in cahoots with the very attorneys it had banned and claimed law firms Davidoff Hutcher & Citron and Davis, Saperstein & Salomon used their clout to push state regulators to do their bidding.
“Madison Square Garden’s delusional belief that we have somehow coordinated with the SLA is pure fiction,” said Larry Hutcher of the DHC law firm.
The SLA could slap MSG with fines of up to $10,000 per violation or suspend or cancel its license.
“As the agency has not been served in this suit at this time, we cannot comment on it directly, but we stand ready to vigorously defend our processes, actions, and dedicated staff,” the SLA said.