Madison Square Garden’s surveillance system banned fan over his T-shirt design

dave

Selectively, of course. Most intelligent people apply judgement rather than seeking to apply ‘rules’ in a mechanical sense regardless of the situation.

But in this particular thread, we’re not talking about the general aspects of refusing service, but rather about the pettiness of the action taken.

px_eliezer_

Astyanax You all honestly believe the city and state are going to threaten MSG’s tax breaks over this one jerk? LOL!

Pre-existing tax breaks are one thing, but it may become a factor for any business seeking tax breaks in the future.

There is already a lot of opposition to tax breaks for filthy-rich sports owners and for teams worth billions.

As well:

MSG could lose liquor license after court OKs state probe over Dolan’s ban on enemies

The feud between the home of the Knicks and Rangers and the State Liquor Authority (SLA) has been brewing for over a year — since Dolan revealed that he used facial recognition technology to bar entry to lawyers working at firms that filed lawsuits against the arena and his other venues including Radio City Music Hall.

However, blacklisting specific fans could violate state beverage laws that require establishments admit the general public, leading the SLA to launch its probe.

https://nypost.com/2023/12/06/business/msg-could-lose-its-liquor-license-after-appellate-court-ruling/

For clarity, some of the people banned from MSG facilities did indeed work for various law firms, but those law firms have hundreds or thousands of employees most of whom have nothing to do with MSG matters.

For example:

Girl Scout mom kicked out of Radio City and barred from seeing Rockettes after facial recognition tech identified her.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/girl-scout-mom-kicked-radio-city-barred-seeing-rockettes-facial-recogn-rcna62606

Law aside, this is excessive, petty, and punitive.

And pissing off thousands of lawyers is not a great idea in the long run, even if a few of them have sued your company,

DrStrange

px_eliezer_ Pull their liquor license for 30 days. Pull it again every time they try to pull this stunt again.

GrumpyCanadian

Dks01 Some of those aren’t exactly specific; for instance, how do we define “offensive”? Is there a universal definition? Who decides what meets that definition?

Some are clear and perfectly reasonable, given the type of business and why patrons would be there. However, I thought the point of something like “First Amendment rights” was that nobody could get a citizen to give them up under any circumstances, no matter what a venue prints on paper or has a patron sign.

g121

dave But that doesn’t stop others from pointing out the pettiness of the thin-skinned focused on getting ‘revenge’ against someone perceived to have insulted them.

(◔_◔) .. can’t respond .. & biting my tongue ..

InternetJeff

GrumpyCanadian However, I thought the point of something like “First Amendment rights” was that nobody could get a citizen to give them up under any circumstances

The First Amendment only protects you from the government restricting your speech or expression.

Astyanax

px_eliezer_ Pre-existing tax breaks are one thing, but it may become a factor for any business seeking tax breaks in the future.

There is already a lot of opposition to tax breaks for filthy-rich sports owners and for teams worth billions.

A recipe for yet another future billionaire Floridian. 😉

egeezer

Astyanax

Astyanax
“…state are going to threaten MSG’s tax breaks over this one jerk? LOL!”

Now that you mention it, there are several recent examples of government withholding funding, tax breaks and contracts from private businesses and other private organizations who exercise legal but undesirable(to government officials) choices or positions in who can receive or participate in their services. As you indicate with your LOL, it is a ridiculous governmental response.

But it’s becoming an accepted practice, so we should not be surprised if NY or NYC exercises their options in the name of governmental efficiency and eliminating waste and fraud.

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