James Dolan Boots Mom From Rockettes Show And Made Her Wait Outside While Her Daughter Watched The Show

Ethan Miller. Getty Images.

NY Post- She came to see the Rockettes’ world-famous kick-line — but got kicked out of line instead.

Kelly Conlon, 44, was chaperoning her 9-year-old daughter’s Girl Scout troop to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular last month when she was flagged by the event space’s facial recognition system and refused entry despite holding a ticket.

What landed the New Jersey-based attorney on the naughty no-entry list? Her job.

“They said my firm was on the attorney exclusion list and escorted me out,” Conlon told The Post.

She said she was forced to spend 90 minutes wandering around outside in the rain while her daughter caught the show with the rest of her troop inside. 

“I was caught off-guard – I just complied with what they asked me to do and I left my daughter inside the venue with her troops. I had driven multiple people in my car so I couldn’t leave to go home,” Conlon said.

Conlon was caught up in a Big Brother-esque crackdown by Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan, who has banned anyone who works for any law firm that has a suit against any of his holdings, which includes the Knicks, Rangers, Radio City, MSG and various restaurants.

I am aware there will be a "Pot calling the kettle black " element here, but this comes as the least shocking news for a guy like James Dolan. Over the years Dolan has had a variety of stories come out about how vengeful or fixated on minuscule details he can be. 

Take for example the Knicks City Dancers : 

Daily News-  "Dolan has become such a hands-on owner — figuratively speaking — that, according to a source, he doesn’t want the dancers dancing. Crazy, right? The same guy who wanted creative input on the dancers’ outfits (and he’s good at it) apparently ordered that the girls’ roles be reduced to mostly throwing T-shirts into the crowd. They performed maybe one routine on Sunday."

Isola continues, "Why? No one seems to know, except the standard answer is usually 'that’s Dolan.' And this is where I draw the line. Be upset all you want at the players for underperforming. But the dancers? The KCD’s have been the model of fitness, enthusiasm and execution for two decades. The Knicks? They’ve had one good season out of the last 13."

 Or keeping tabs on who attended his band's shows 

Si.Com- Since his first taste of performing in public, on Sanibel Island, the 51-year-old billionaire has made even the band all about him. He built a rehearsal studio on the grounds of his Long Island estate and replaced the Garden's amateur musicians with professionals; today the band is a five-piece blues outfit called J.D. and the Straight Shot. Dolan wears a fedora onstage, plays rhythm guitar and sings lead. For his sporadic performances at New York clubs, attendance by staffers is expected and noted.

His essential "Lock down" type tactics on media and writers who might say one bad word about the team 

Observer - “Some of the things they practice here are completely against what you’d expect a normal team to do,” said Mr. Hahn, a second-year reporter on the beat who said that he now misses his old job as a hockey reporter covering the provincial New York Islanders. “They come up with things all the time. There’s zero access to players. They would rather you don’t even write.”

The stories from the reporters are endless: layers of institutional paranoia, public relations officials who openly eavesdrop on private conversations with executives and players, the threat—and implementation—of cutting off reporters who are perceived to be critical of the team.

“Everyone is so worried about upsetting Jim Dolan, or getting fired, and as a result people aren’t themselves,” Mr. Beck said. “If you transplanted the same individuals and put them in another city, then they’d be far more interesting. They’d be themselves.”

Booting one of the fan's favorite players from the arena : 

So James Dolan going above and beyond to prove a point in a grudge is par for the course. The questions I have in this specific situation is "Didn't he think even this was a little much?" To make a mother stand outside when she's supposed to be chaperoning a trip? Was she the only chaperone? Didn't this make it harder for the rest of the parents to corral and organize kids in a crowded arena? Did he think the daughter's day (which was supposed to be fun) is now ruined? 

Listen, being this vengeful and having a dark spot of trying to come over the top on people is a difficult thing to balance. You can write it off as pride, or a way to justify trying to get back at people who did wrong on you, but really all it does it waste your time, waste your energy and waste time you could be doing something positive instead. Take it from me, figuring out ways to fuck people over is a lot less productive than letting it go. One day Dolan will put away the sword and be better for it. I as well have tried to learn from mistakes of small squabbles and letting them consume your time. Progress can only be made a day at a time.