For years, if New Yorkers could agree on one thing besides complaining about subway delays and outrageous rent, it was this: James Dolan was public enemy No. 1.
The longtime Madison Square Garden boss has spent decades absorbing boos from Knicks fans, surviving everything from disastrous front-office decisions to ugly fan feuds. But after the Knicks’ long-awaited championship run reignited basketball hysteria across the five boroughs, Dolan suddenly found himself cast as the supposed champion of the people — at least until this latest self-inflicted mess.
Now the billionaire owner is locked in a public slugfest with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and in one of the strangest political plot twists New York has seen in years, former Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa is jumping into the ring on the mayor’s side.
The latest controversy erupted around plans for a massive Knicks Finals watch party near Madison Square Garden. After security concerns disrupted an earlier gathering, city officials approved a permit for a Game 4 viewing event capped at 1,000 attendees.
Madison Square Garden Sports blasted City Hall and the NYPD, accusing officials of effectively turning the area into a “police state” and limiting fans’ ability to celebrate the Knicks’ historic postseason run.
But City Hall quickly fired back. According to the mayor, MSG itself requested a permit for an event of up to 1,000 people, and the city simply approved what the company asked for. Public permit records reportedly showed organizers could have sought approval for a substantially larger crowd. Mamdani also claimed the ultimate decision to pull the plug on the event came from Dolan’s camp, not City Hall.
That explanation turned the narrative upside down and left Dolan facing fresh questions about who actually killed the fan gathering. Enter Sliwa.
In a video posted online, the Guardian Angels founder reminded New Yorkers that Dolan’s reputation didn’t magically improve because the Knicks finally started winning. “Before the Knicks’ championship run against the San Antonio Spurs, the most hated, loathed person in New York was Jimmy Dolan. People hate him; and now, everybody is lifting him up and saying, ‘This guy, he’s a party guy, he wants us, to the break of dawn, to celebrate the Knicks!’”
Sliwa mocked what he sees as Dolan’s attempt to portray himself as the victim while blaming city officials for the canceled festivities. “And so, he threw water on the police commissioner Jessica Tisch, but especially Zohran Mamdani yesterday, when he canceled the viewing party and he blamed the police commissioner and the mayor, and then say, ‘Hey, Mr. Mayor, You’re not a real Knicks fan. I wanted everyone to party. I wanted everyone to enjoy this. You’re the party pooper!’” Then came the money shot. “Jimmy Dolan, I’m coming after you! Now, for sure, I’ll have the mayor on my side to make you pay your property taxes — $48 million a year! I think finally the mayor may say, ‘Yeah, let’s tax that rich guy who blasphemed me!’”
It’s not every day that a conservative firebrand and a democratic socialist mayor find common ground. Yet New York politics has always had a talent for producing bizarre alliances, especially when a billionaire sports owner is involved. Only in New York could a basketball watch party become a political cage match. And only in New York could Curtis Sliwa and Zohran Mamdani end up on the same side of the barricade.
Curtis Sliwa goes off on James Dolan for the stunt he pulled yesterday related to the Knicks watch party at MSG:
“Before the Knicks championship run against the San Antonio Spurs, the most hated, loathed person in New York was Jimmy Dolan. People hate him, and now everybody is… pic.twitter.com/QVVCwhywAa
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) June 12, 2026
