Results tagged “jamesdolan”

James Dolan, chairman of Cablevision and Madison Square Garden, has been reviled for years for running the Knicks into the ground. And now rumor has it he wants to get rid of a beloved part of New York City—the Radio City Hall Rockettes! Dolan also owns Radio City Cityfile reported, "Much like other pricey productions—ticket sales [for the Christmas Spectacular] have fallen flat given the state of the economy," leading workers to worry. A former cast member told Cityfile, "I've spoken with people who work at the Radio City box office and they say they've never seen it this bad." Plus, "The temperamental Cablevision chief has intimated that he's prepared to scrap the Rockettes altogether and install an entirely new show in the famed venue during the holiday season. One idea he's reportedly batted around: Bringing a version of Cirque du Soleil to Radio City." Egads! Dolan's spokeperson later caught up with Cityfile, "This story is fundamentally false. We anticipate 2009 will be another successful season and look forward to creating memories for families for many years to come," but didn't say how well tickets were selling.

Cablevision executives are exploring a potential spinoff of its Madison Square Garden business, according to the NY Times. There are a variety of possibilities that would impact the Knicks and Rangers franchises, as well as Madison Square Garden/Penn Station area development: The Times explains that companies sometimes sell their spinoffs or retain an ownership stake—or simply want to gauge value for the spinoff—so it's simply unclear what will happen. One analyst said, "Cablevision watchers (and we’d put ourselves in that category) have long pondered possible endgames, and the notion that the Dolans would retain ownership of M.S.G. and the New York sports teams long after the rest of the assets had been divested has always been viewed as among the most likely outcomes." Cablevision's chairman is Charles Dolan while his son James is chairman of MSG, running the Knicks and Rangers. A former MSG executive also told the Times, "Jimmy Dolan has said many times he wants to run these assets for the rest of his life." Good readin: This 2005 New York magazine feature about James Dolan.

It’s May and for New York sports fans that means our attention is fixed to baseball, baseball and more baseball. It wasn’t always this way as May was once a time to watch the Knicks and Rangers make deep runs into the playoffs. It was a time when MSG was the place to be in May, but those times are a distant memory.

His team tied the franchise record for most losses in a season. He assembled a mass of costly players that were long on extra pounds and short on ability to win games. He was found liable on six counts of sexual harassment. The day after Isiah Thomas' Knicks played the final game of the 2007-08 season -- a loss of course -- the coach and the rest of the world are still waiting to learn officially of his fate. The Daily News, however, says he's gone.

According to WNBC's Jonathan Dienst, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly wrote a letter to the MTA, MSG, Amtrak, and Vornado Realty expressing his dismay over the lack of Penn Station security. Three years after funding had been secured for the construction of a legitimately effective security barrier to protect Penn Station from a truck bomb attack, Kelly says little has been done to implement any plans.

Isiah Thomas thinks he deserves more time. Not that much more, just two weeks, but time to show he can turn this club around. Of course, he has had four years already, but at this point who is counting? Maybe Isiah noticed that the next two weeks contain six games, but only two of those teams currently have winning records. The two-week timeframe came up as Thomas was asked what he would do to a coach with his record as GM. His response: "That's a better question in a couple of weeks. Not today, but in a couple weeks, that would be a fair question. We'll see if we can come out of this. If we can't come out of this, then those are fair questions. There's still a lot of basketball left in the season. There is time to turn it around."

The New York Knicks are the most entertaining team in the NBA. Not because of the team's play on the court, but because of the soap-opera-like drama that takes place off the court. During Knicks practice yesterday, Isiah Thomas said that he's not walking away from the team he created. "If there's one thing that I hope all of you know about me, or will learn about me, I fight 'til I die. It's not...

Mavericks 99, Knicks 89: Are James Dolan and Isiah Thomas watching the same team the fans are? More boos were heard in Madison Square Garden during the latest Knicks debacle. But James Dolan and Isiah Thomas don't seem to hear them -- or feel the "Fire Isiah" chants are justified. What more evidence do they need? A loss to the Mavericks, the team that finished with the best record in the NBA last season, wouldn't...

How many times this season are we going to say that the Knicks have hit an all time low? It seems that every couple weeks the team drops another disgraceful notch, and this weekend was the latest. No one knew how the team would react to the death of Stephon Marbury's father last week, but the sense was that they had come together as a unit out of the tragedy, and many might have thought...

A day after the NY Post served up a Thanksgiving day front page cover of Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas as a turkey, the embattled Thomas proclaimed he would stay in his job, saying, "I don't foresee there being any changes this year." Which the Post calls "LOAD OF BULL?" But really, if there's one thing that the Post and Daily News must have been thankful for, it's having such a spectacularly poorly managed...

Anucha Browne Sanders gets the cover treatment from the Post and Daily News after a jury believed that Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas and that Madison Square Garden (the owner of the Knicks) were liable for sexual harassment. amNY, though, chose to put Isiah Thomas on its cover, with an inset of Knicks owner James Dolan, next to the headline "Rotten to the Court" - oh snap!

Once again people will wonder about the decision-making of the folks in the Knicks organization: A jury has found Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden liable on six counts of sexual harassment. The charges were brought against Thomas and MSG by former marketing vice-president Anucha Browne Sanders, who alleged that Thomas acted inappropriately (swearing, making advances) and that management dismissed her complaints before firing her because of her complaints. The Thomas and the Knicks organization denied the hostile environment and said that Browne Sanders was fired because she was not competent.

Certainly, it's her word against his word, but if former Knicks marketing vice-president Anucha Browne Sanders is telling the truth, the disorganized management of the Knicks suddenly makes sense! Browne Sanders, who had filed a sexual harassment suit against Knicks President and coach Isiah Thomas after being fired last year, testified in Manhattan federal court yesterday. She made a number of spectacular claims: That Thomas frequently called her a "bitch" and a "ho," that he didn't care about his sponsors or fans, and even said that he was in love with her.

Holiday season weekends are filled with traffic, shopping and gift wrapping. Wind down after your hectic weekends this December by spending your Mondays at The Garden with this special holiday offer from the Knicks.

Continue reading "Like Putting a Lump of Coal in a Stocking"

In his infinite wisdom, James Dolan has declared that Isiah Thomas must show “measurable” progress to keep his job after this season. What exactly that means hasn’t been defined, but the question is; how can this team not improve on last season? The Knicks managed only 23 wins last year and seemed to use a different lineup every night. Larry Brown ruined his reputation as a great coach by sniping at his players in the media and failing to set a rotation. In short, there is no possible scenario where this team plays worse than it did last year.

“This is a great day for the New York Knicks and our fans. Larry Brown is not just one of the best coaches in the NBA today, but in its history. He has made every team he has ever coached a winner, with a legendary approach to teaching and motivating his players. His value to us as a franchise at this time is immeasurable.”

- Aww poor James Dolan, he doesn't like it when people pick on him and make a little website asking him to sell the team. Cafe Press got a nice letter from Dolan's lawyers saying that the Selltheknicks.com store was infringing on his intellectual property, specifically his likeness and his name. Can Knick fans send a letter to Dolan's lawyers claiming infringement on their loyalties and better senses? Selltheknicks.com says they are fighting the move.

Scuttlebutt from Knicks sources is that Knicks owner James Dolan (owner of Cablevision) and MSG president Steve Mills are willing to buy out pricey remaining four years on coach Larry Brown's contract. And not only that, the new coach could be general manager Isaiah Thomas. Management has been upset with Brown's criticism of players to the media, but let's face it - who hasn't been criticizing the most expensive NBA roster with the second worst record in the league for the 2005-2006 season? Brown's remaining contract is worth $44 million, and that would be some easy money for Brown (though it's unclear how the Knicks would structure a buy-out - paying in full and Brown can't coach for four years or paying a percentage, but Brown gets back into the game), who had some medical problems towards the end of the season. The Daily News says that Knicks players "staged a palace coup in front of Thomas during their exit interviews," with eight of the fifteen players blaming Brown for the poor season. Well, there's no one to blame like someone else! Gothamist thinks ownership is buying out the wrong guy, but maybe it's fitting that Thomas would have to clean up his own mess. The key for the team to succeed is to get Stephon "Call Me Starbury" Marbury out and younger players who want to be coached in. Of course, the Knicks, even with crap records, can't count on any high draft picks since they failed to lottery-protect their first round picks for this year and next after the Eddy Curry trade.

True, the Knicks have too many "power" forwards, but how much hope is there that Houston will return to the Knicks. And if he does, will it be the Houston of old or even worth $20 million a year? Probably not. Besides, if you've got an exception that seems tailor-made for your player, why not go ahead and use it? Then again, when was the last time the Knickerbockers did something that made sense?

Mayor Bloomberg lambasted the state's PACB decision to reject a plan to finance the West Side Stadium, telling New Yorkers, "We have let down America." Yes, Mayor Bloomberg was swimming in hyperbole, saying:

"We've lost a little bit of our spirit to go ahead and our can-do attitude. If you adopt this kind of policy, we never would have built Carnegie Hall, we never would have built Radio City Music Hall, we never would have built the airports, or the Triborough Bridge or Central Park. One of the great dangers is that developers are going to get disheartened and say, 'I can't build anything in New York City because the politics always get in the way.'"

- Cablevision's $600 million "proposal, Hudson Gardens, would be a largely residential community with 5,800 new apartments and a park. The plan includes moderate-income housing, a school, a library, a hotel, public toilets, theater equipment suppliers, a supermarket and a park -- all with glistening Hudson River views." [Newsday]

City Council Speaker, and mayoral hopeful, Gifford Miller, gave his State of the City address yesterday, and he promised to block the West Side Stadium. Miller accused the Mayor of using city funds like a slush fund, and will be trying to rezone the West Side for other purposes. He said, "The bottom line is that I have fought and will keep on fighting against this stadium so that my children and your children won't end up paying for this terrible mistake." Ooh, nice move, Miller - Bloomberg can't say that...but Gothamist wonders if Cablevision/James Dolan will be helping Miller with his campaign funds. Given that the heckling from trade unions that another mayoral hopeful against the stadium got, Gothamist expects the unions to back Bloomberg.

Unsurprisingly, builders yesterday were wary about making an offer for the air rights for the West Side railyards, which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has opened up for the next month to public bidding. While "licking their chops" at the prospect of such a large parcel of land on the isle of Manhattan, it's clear to developers that dousing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's dreams of a Jets stadium (and the possibility of the city hosting the 2012 Olympics) would carry serious repercussions for anyone who might desire a city permit in the near future.

Some clutch jumpers by Kurt Thomas and a banked in three pointer at the buzzer by Jamal Crawford helped the Knicks beat the Houston Rockets and former coach Jeff Van Gundy 93-92 last night in Texas. Crawford finished the night with 19 points and Thomas added an impressive 23 points and 14 rebounds. They both carried the Knicks to their first road win of the season, while Houston has lost four out of their last five games.

Sure, Albert was biting the hand that fed him, but who is James Dolan kidding? Has he seen the Knicks of late? They deserve criticism. Leafing through the paper this morning, Gothamist was shocked, stunned, shaking our heads. But what do we know? All we know is that Knick broadcasts will not be the same.

Proving that nothing in New York is cheap, a recent study by Sportsbusinessnews.com confirmed that the New York Knickerbockers were officially the worst bargain in the league this season. When you divide the Knicks $94,395,091 payroll (highest in the league) by 39, the number of W�s they notched this season, the results show that each victory cost owner James Dolan $2,420,387.