Banning lawyers who are currently engaging in litigation against MSG is prudent, not a vendetta. Banning fans who have thrown objects on the court/ice or fought with security for life is entirely defensible. Banning some vocal critics is not really defensible (and if they barred all the critics of James Dolan Knicks games would be empty), and I'll concede that.
The context of the tax exemption is 1) NYC budget is ~$125 billion, $43 million does not move the needle; 2) The NY Jets and NY Giants play across the river in Jersey. No mayor wants to preside over losing Knicks and Rangers.
The lawyer they banned was not engaging in litigation against MSG. She was part of a large firm (with more than 1000 lawyers) where another lawyer was working on litigation against MSG. Like imagine if Google sued Live Nation and then anyone working for Google was banned from Live Nation venues and Ticketmaster.
As a private business, I don't see why he can't ban people because of their astrological sign, their bad taste in pizza, or any other thing other than membership in a protected class.
The tax exemption shouldn't exist at all, and the states in the surrounding area should make an interstate compact to put an end to that nonsense by imposing minimum tax burdens for sports teams based on total revenue. The amount of tax avoidance (by some of the most profitable companies in the country) made possible by playing one place against another is crazy.
>Banning lawyers who are currently engaging in litigation against MSG is prudent, not a vendetta.
That's not what he did though