Key facts
- Mamdani told Wired the draft legislation is an important response to surveillance technology he criticized.
- City Council member Shahana Hanif introduced two local bills aimed at banning biometric data collection in public places.
- Madison Square Garden spokesperson Mikyl Cordova said Wired's reporting is inaccurate and false and that MSG is pursuing legal remedies.
- New York City has required businesses to disclose biometric data collection from visitors since 2021.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized Madison Square Garden's use of surveillance technology and backed City Council legislation to ban biometric data collection in public places, in comments to Wired published on November 3.
Mamdani told Wired in an interview on Tuesday that surveillance technologies are "indicative of much that is wrong in our country today." He said City Council member Shahana Hanif introduced two pieces of local legislation aimed at banning the collection of biometric data, such as facial recognition, in public places across the city, and called the draft legislation "an important response to this kind of an issue."
The comments followed reporting by Wired on how Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan uses surveillance cameras and face-scanning technology to track people inside and outside the company's venues. Wired reported that Dolan's company keeps a database that marks some visitors, including celebrity performers, as "LGBTQIA," for reasons it said were unclear. Dolan subsequently sued Wired over its reporting.
In 2021, a woman was banned from Radio City, another Dolan-owned venue, after facial recognition systems identified her as an attorney at a law firm suing Dolan's company, though she was not involved in the litigation.
Madison Square Garden spokesperson Mikyl Cordova told TechCrunch: "Wired's reporting is inaccurate and false. MSG is pursuing legal remedies," without providing evidence for the claim. New York City has required businesses to disclose when they collect biometric data from visitors since 2021.