Madison Square Garden called off the watch party outside the World’s Most Famous Arena as Knicks owner Jim Dolan unloaded on Mayor Zohran Mamadni and NYPD Jessica Tisch for slapping security restrictions on the event scheduled for Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
“We’re not even putting up the screens,” Dolan said on WFAN Radio Wednesday afternoon.
“Our hope was that the mayor and the commissioner would change their minds and we’d put the screens up,” Dolan added. “They clearly haven’t changed their minds, it’s almost 5 o’ clock so the screens are not going up.”
The decision comes as MSG and the city have battled over the security zone the police department is putting up around the Garden for Wednesday night’s game between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
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Dolan took shots at Mamdani and Tisch for setting up the secure area around MSG for the Knicks’ home games, claiming it will be harder to get into the venue than Area 51.
“This is really out of the mayor’s office, he really needs to change his mind,” Dolan said.
MSG has complained the city was downsizing the number of people who can attend the party, and requiring it to be a ticketed event, while the NYPD has said the MSG submitted a permit application to hold an event for up to about 1,000 people.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.