James Dolan, owner of Madison Square Garden, is spending heavily to elect Republican Bruce Blakeman as New York governor. Direct family donations to Blakeman's campaign total $108,000, with another $970,000 going to the Nassau County Republican party. MSG entities have contributed $2 million to Strong and Safe New York Inc., a super PAC supporting Blakeman that has raised $5.3 million overall. The spending helps offset the cash advantage held by incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul, whom Dolan backed in the last election.
Dolan's shift reflects common ground with Blakeman on surveillance, immigration enforcement, and ties to President Trump. Blakeman has promoted license plate readers and biometric surveillance, and he joined Trump and Dolan in a luxury box during an NBA Finals game. Dolan's own arena uses facial recognition on nearly every patron, and his security practices have drawn scrutiny from the state attorney general and city officials.
The spending carries risks. A majority of the New York City Council supports a bill to rein in biometric surveillance, and state lawmakers have introduced a bill to end a property tax break worth over $1 billion to Madison Square Garden. Dolan also clashed with city and state officials over security and control of the Knicks' championship parade. Despite these frictions, political strategists say Dolan could become the biggest donor in New York Republican politics, win or lose this race. The WIRED report notes that MSG did not respond to a request for comment and has filed a defamation suit over prior coverage.}```json lines? The user asked to return strict JSON. I provided a JSON object. Need to ensure no trailing text. The final answer should be just JSON. I'll{