Ooof. Talk about insulting. In today's Times, Clyde Haberman goes so far as to compare the Dolan clan to the Mario Puzo's Corleone family from his Godfather series of books. That comparison to the Dolans is clearly a slap in the face to the Corleones. Haberman says that any "enormously rich and influential business family would do as a replacement" and casts Jim Dolan, Chairman of Madison Square Garden, as "the hapless Fredo Corleone." If Jim is Fredo, where is Michael - and the kiss of death? There's gotta be some other unscrupulous families that to which the Dolans can compare (Spears family, anyone?).
The comparison of the two families comes while Haberman discusses the City Council's attempt to change The Garden's tax exempt status. At yesterday's hearing, Garden officials were so worried about their tax status that they didn't even bother sending any of its executives!
Instead, they relied on a Chicago consultant to ask for a delay in any attempt to change the arena's tax status until negotiations were complete on a possible move into the Farley Post Office location. Perhaps they were too busy running that great basketball team. Or they just know that their good friend Sheldon Silver would never allow The Garden's tax status to be changed.
