‘Cowardly’ James Dolan ripped for skipping NYC Council hearing on MSG’s controversial facial recognition tech

Madison Square Garden boss James Dolan is fine with using facial recognition technology to ban his perceived enemies from the venue — but he refused to show face at a City Council hearing Friday to defend himself against mounting criticism over the controversial practice.

The hearing in the Council’s Consumer and Worker Protection Committee was held to scrutinize the use of facial recognition technology by private businesses in the city at large.

The focus quickly turned to Dolan. His company, MSG Entertainment, has drawn intense ire since it emerged in December that it’s using facial recognition software to blacklist hundreds of lawyers whose firms are involved in litigation with MSG from attending events at Madison Square Garden and its other venues.

City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said the committee extended an offer for Dolan or other MSG executives to deliver testimony at the hearing.

But the invitation went unanswered, Williams said.

“I think it’s pretty cowardly and despicable to the process and to the Council,” Williams said of Dolan’s decision to skip the hearing. “It’s a shame that someone is not here.”

Reps for Dolan did not immediately return requests for comment.

Many of the lawyers who have been barred from entering Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and MSG’s other venues are not directly involved in legal disputes with Dolan.

Still, they have been confronted by security guards at the venues after entering and told they have to leave because facial recognition cameras recognized them as working for firms suing Dolan’s company.

“It’s not about public safety — it’s about retaliation,” Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who has introduced legislation in Albany to make Dolan’s policy illegal, testified at Friday’s hearing.

Dolan has insisted he’s acting within the confines of the law since his venues are private property.

Nonetheless, State Attorney General Letitia James launched an investigation last month into whether Dolan’s company is breaking any laws.

[ James Dolan’s Madison Square Garden facial recognition attorney ban challenged by NY Attorney General ]

Both Williams and Hoylman-Sigal said at Friday’s hearing that the city and state should explore legislative steps for reprimanding Dolan if he doesn’t roll back his facial recognition policy, including repealing tax abatements MSG currently benefits from.

“If it’s your private property, perhaps you should be paying property taxes,” Hoylman-Sigal said.

Sam Davis, a partner at the New Jersey-based Davis, Saperstein & Salomon law firm, is among the lawyers involved in litigation with Dolan’s company. One of Davis’ associates, Kelly Conlon, was ejected from a “Rockettes” performance at Radio City Music Hall in December she had brought her daughter along for after facial recognition cameras identified her as an employee of the firm.

Testifying at the Consumer and Worker Protection Committee hearing, Davis said Dolan’s practice could set a chilling precedent.

“When you weaponize facial recognition, you invade our fundamental right to privacy,” Davis said. “You stifle our freedom of speech.”