James Dolan, a Former Hochul Supporter, Goes All In on Her G.O.P. Rival
- Knicks owner James Dolan, once a Hochul supporter, now wants the business elite to ditch her for Republican Bruce Blakeman.
- Dolan is furious Hochul is backing 'democratic socialist' Mayor Zohran Mamdani's tax-hike plans, calling it 'anti-business' and 'economically harmful'.
- He sent a blunt email to the Partnership for New York City, demanding they reroute $30 million in advocacy cash into his own personal war chest.
- Blakeman, the Nassau County exec and Trump ally, is the unnamed beneficiary of Dolan's money and influence.
- The move signals a rare GOP power play in deep-blue New York, with Wall Street and real estate moguls picking sides.
Brief Summary
So much for civic loyalty. James Dolan, the billionaire rock-star wannabe who owns the Knicks, has decided that Kathy Hochul's political career deserves a swift technical foul. The man who once wrote checks for the governor is now hitting send on emails begging the business elite to abandon ship, all because Hochul dares to stand with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a socialist who weirdly thinks taxing the rich is a good idea. Dolan's solution? Bankroll Bruce Blakeman, a Republican from Nassau County who's apparently the GOP's latest sacrificial lamb. He didn't even bother naming Blakeman in the email, proving that in the world of plutocrats, you only need to say 'not Hochul' for everyone to know the play.
Dolan is openly demanding the Partnership for New York City hand over a chunk of its $30 million piggy bank to his own personal political black hole. It's a brazen power move that reeks of a man who's used to getting his way on the court and thinks state government should work the same way: with him calling the shots from the owner's box. The Times got the email, obviously, because nothing says 'quiet diplomacy' like CC'ing every heavy hitter in Manhattan real estate. The gubernatorial race just became a proxy war between millionaires who think taxes are a myth and the rest of us who pay them.
Why This Matters
This isn't just rich guy drama. Dolan's full-court press means New York's business elite are circling like vultures, ready to drown Hochul in negative ad cash if she doesn't bend to their will. If he succeeds in pulling that $30 million into his orbit, the airwaves will be flooded with lies about 'job-killing taxes' while the real issue — the city's actual affordability crisis — gets buried. For the average New Yorker, this is a preview of the next election: a parade of billionaire-funded attack ads designed to make you forget who's really bleeding you dry.
The bigger takeaway? Dolan is openly telling us that Democrats can't count on their old money buddies anymore. If Hochul loses even a fraction of that donor class, she'll be forced to grovel for votes from regular people, which is the political equivalent of a wolf asking a sheep for dinner tips. And honestly, watching the New York elite scramble to out-Trump each other while the rest of us ride the subway is a spectacle worth a bucket of popcorn. Whether you hate Hochul or love her, this story is a reminder that in New York, the real 'owners' aren't the teams — they're the guys in the suites deciding who gets to govern.