By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-10-13 18:37:10 | Updated at 2026-10-13 19:56:38
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Knicks owner James Dolan is calling out leaders of the city’s most influential business group for sitting out the governor’s race instead of backing Republican Bruce Blakeman – or at least advocating for a lower tax, pro-growth agenda.
Dolan, who also owns Madison Square Garden, is bankrolling a pro-Blakeman political action committee over Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul in this year’s race and he claims other business leaders are giving the incumbent a free pass.
The owner expressed his frustration in an email to Rob Speyer, co-chairman of the Partnership for the City of New York, the trade group for the city’s largest and most influential employers, from Wall Street, real estate, banking, tech and sports and entertainment industries.
“I have a growing concern that the Partnership and MSG may be sliding toward different paths as it relates to our respective views on the financial and political challenges we are facing both as a city and a state,” Dolan said in an Oct.12 e-letter to Rob Speyer of the real estate firm Tishman Speyer and co-chair of the Partnership’s board of directors.
Dolan said there is “widespread agreement”i n the business community that Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “bad for the city” because “we all know that his plans to raise taxes are disastrous for our economy.”
But he suggested the Partnership’s leadership is making things easy for Hochul, who is seeking reelection to a second full, four-year term and gave authorization for Mamdani to impose a new pied-a-terre on luxury second homes in the city.
“However, this is where we diverge. The mayor cannot raise taxes without Governor Hochul’s support,” Dolan told Speyer.
“Whoever serves as New York State’s next governor is our only defense against these harmful policies for the next three years… and it is clear that, if re-elected, Governor Hochul will not hold the line.
He went on to bring up the pied-a-terre tax.
“Next may very well be a wealth tax. In any case she has declared that she will not run again and therefore has nothing to lose in supporting these anti-business, economically harmful approaches over the next four years,” he wrote.
The Dolan-funded Super PAC Strong and Safe New York is spending millions supporting Blakeman, the current Nassau County executive, for governor.
“If we want to truly be serious about supporting the business community, we also need to support a strong and truly competitive two-party + election process,” Dolan said. “There is still time turn this around before it is too late for all of our shared interests.”
He noted that the Partnership has its own well-funded 501(c)(4) advocacy group that can be immediately deployed to “get out the vote for New Yorkers who want a sensible approach to business policies emanating out of Albany while also directly calling on our statewide candidates to commit to lowering the oppressive tax burden that is harming families and driving business out-of-state.
“In the alternative,” Dolan said, “you could direct resources from that C4 into one that I control where we will work to drive that same approach.
“We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by actively engaging today,” he added. “The stakes are far too high to sit on the sideline.”
Dolan said he copied other members of the Partnership to get involved with the Nov. 3 election just three weeks away, with early voting starting sooner.
Tishman and his firm have donated $97,500 to Hochul’s campaign since 2021.
Dolan closed his note saying he remains a “friend and happy tenant” to real estate mogul Speyer.
The Post reached out to Speyer for comment.
Partnership CEO Steve Fulop said in a statement to The Post that the group is a “nonpartisan organization” and does not support or oppose individual candidates.
“Governor Hochul addressed our membership earlier this year, and we intend to extend the same opportunity to Bruce Blakeman before the election,” he said. “Our focus remains on advocating for policies that strengthen New York’s competitiveness, create jobs, and support economic growth.”
The organization has not met with Blakeman.
