70 Sunday,March 29, 2020 DAILY NEWSNYDailyNews.com
J
ames Dolan has stepped
up for his workers.
According to a memo
sent to employees, Dolan
and MSG have agreed to
pay event staff at the World’s
Most Famous Arena through
at least May 3 during the co-
ronavirus shutdown and cre-
ated a fund for hardship cases
that’s already received $2.3
million in donations.
Th e p a y m e n t s e x t e n d
through all scheduled events
in the Garden — including
Knicks and Rangers games —
and the other venues owned
by Dolan like Radio City Mu-
sic Hall, The Hulu Theatre
and The Chicago Theatre.
Still, it’s not a blanket payment
extension from Dolan. Onlyworkers who averaged at least
2 0 hours per week over the
last six months qualify.
MSG had previously only
guaranteed pay for its event
staff until April 5, causing anx-
iety among workers who were
hoping for the same security
provided to Barclays Center
staff by Nets owner Joe Tsai.
As longtime one concession
worker told the Daily News
before Dolan’s payment ex-
tension, “People are very, very
concerned.”The Nets have still guaran-
teed payment to event staff for
al ong e r p e r i o d (t h ro u gh
May), but MSG also has left its
cutoff open-ended and could
extend the checks if the co-ronavirus pandemic goes into
the summer.
According to the memo, the
relief fund received a $1 mil-
lion donation from MSG, a $1
million donation from theDolan Family Foundation and
$300,000 from the MSG man-
agement. Workers can apply
for relief even while getting
paid by MSG if, for instance,
their spouse lost a job becauseof the coronavirus crisis and
they’re getting slammed by
bills. Event staff includes
wo r k e r s i n c o n c e s s i o n s ,
cleaning, ushers and others.
Dolan was recently guaran-
teed an influx of cash when he
announced the sale The Fo-
rum in Inglewood to Clippers
owner Steve Ballmer for $400
million. Dolan also benefits
from a tax abatement in New
York City that has reached
close to $50 million annually
(Dolan inherited a tax loop-
hole approved 36 years ago by
Mayor Ed Koch).
Tsai and Dallas Mavericks
owner Mark Cuban have been
the shining examples of bil-
lionaire owners who pledged
definitively to take care of
their arena workers. Dolan
now joins the list.
Other owners haven’t been
so generous. Bruins owner
Jeremy Jacobs, who also owns
TD Garden, laid off hundreds
of part-time ushers. Workers
at Citi Field, home of the Mets,
have also not received pay-
ments yet for home games
that were scheduled, as the
Daily News’ Bradford William
Davis reported. The Sixers an-
nounced a plan to cut back
salaries of higher-paid full-
time employees by 20 percent,
but apologized and back-
tracked after public criticism.
The NBA, NHL and MLB
are suspended indefinitely
and the CDC has advised
against gatherings of over 50
people.DOLAN GETS IT DONE
Knicks owner does the right thing for MSG workers
James Dolan will pay
event staff at Madison
Square Garden through
at least May 3 during
the coronavirus
shutdown. APSTEFAN
BONDY
James Dolan has tested positive
for the coronavirus.
The 64-year-old billionaire
Knicks owner is exhibiting “lit-
tle to no symptoms,” according
to the team, and remains in iso-
lation while overseeing MSG’s
business operations. Dolan lives
in Oyster Bay on Long Island
but it’s unclear where he’s self-
quarantining.
The diagnosis was disclosed
on the same day Dolan pledged
to pay the salaries of event staff
in all of MSG’s venues through
at least May 3, despite the
COVID-19 pandemic shutting
down his arenas indefinitely.Dolan represents the first
known NBA owner to contract
the coronavirus after several
players — most notably Brook-
lyn’s Kevin Durant — tested pos-
itive. Coincidentally, the Knicks
reportedly decided against test-
ing their players because they,
like Dolan, exhibited no symp-
toms. Many of the Knicks have
left the New York area during
the coronavirus shutdown.
Access to tests for asymp-
tomatic and healthy people has
been controversial, as most of
the NBA players who’ve tested
positive said they don’t have
symptoms. Health officials are
generally recommending that
tests be saved for the sick.
New York City is the worldepicenter of the coronavirus
pandemic, with over 30,000
cases out of America’s more
than 124,000 and the world’s
nearly 700,000. The virus has
killed at least 672 people in the
city, including 222 on Saturday
alone.
Dolan is a recovered alco-
holic who inherited MSG from
his father and took over the
Knicks in 1999. He has been
wildly unpopular and unsuc-
cessful as a basketball owner,
but his other team — the Rang-
ers — has experienced more
positives recently. Dolan has
poured much of his attention
recently into live event venues,
and currently owns Madison
Square Garden, the Hulu Thea-tre, the Chicago Theatre and
Radio City Music Hall. He has
arenas opening soon in Las
Vegas and London. He also just
sold The Forum in Inglewood
to C l i p p e r s o w n e r S t e v e
Ballmer for $400 million.
Despite his vast business suc-
cess, Dolan’s Knicks have long
been a mess. The franchise
owns the NBA’s worst record in
the last 20 years and is riding a
six-year streak without the play-
offs.
This season — which is post-
poned indefinitely because of
the coronavirus outbreak — was
another disaster and Dolan
often took center stage. After a
blowout November defeat at
home, he persuaded team presi-dent Steve Mills and GM Scott
Perry to hold an impromptu
press conference that sent
coach David Fizdale to the hot
seat. Fizdale was fired in De-
cember, then Dolan dismissed
Mills in February.
Dolan also reportedly or-
dered the ejection of a young fan
wh e n t h e G a r d e n c r o w d
chanted, “Sell the team.” Just
this month, the owner was ac-
cused by Spike Lee of harass-
ment after the Knicks superfan
got into an argument with Gar-
den security.
According to court docu-
ments, Dolan is scheduled to
participate in a conference call
Tuesday with Charles Oakley to
mediate their civil lawsuit.Dolan has virus, Knicks say, with ‘little to no symptoms’
BY STEFAN BONDY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS