New York State Senator Malcolm Smith and representatives of New York's restaurant and bar owners are launching their own occupy Madison Square Garden movement with a protest outside the arena today.
A press release from Smith's office has the details:
NEW YORK -- Senator Malcolm A. Smith will join Knicks and Nets fans and season ticketholders today,?Wednesday November 23, 2011 at 12 pm as they request a full refund for the whole season due to the NBA Walkout.? They will be also unveiling a 6 foot petition for over 1 million fans to sign in front of Madison Square Garden.? An upcoming National Basketball ??Solidarity Day will be announced that will take place in arenas and stadiums across the nation.
Officials from the United Restaurant and Tavern Owners Association along with other New York City merchants and vendors will join in tomorrow's news conference after losing over million dollars worth of revenue due to the cancellation of basketball games. The Association represents over 3,000 bars and restaurants in the tri-state area.
I applaud the sentiment behind this, as NBA fans have gotten fairly royally hosed by this labor mess. That said, I have a few suggestions to make.
First off... the Knicks and Nets - and every other NBA team - has a very clear policy for refunds in place and has since late July. When games are cancelled, ticket holders have the option of a full refund, or a credit - with 5 percent interest - towards next season's tickets. (Worth noting - 5 percent interest is a lot more than you'd get from a typical bank savings account these days.)
Second... what, exactly, is the "NBA Walkout?" That word choice seems to imply that the players are on strike, and that simply isn't the case. Whatever you think of the players' negotiating strategy to this point, or some of the decisions they made leading up to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, the league has been shut down by management. It's a lockout, not a strike.
Of course, Senator Smith won't be the first politician to grab for headlines despite a less-than-complete understanding of the underlying issues.
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