James Dolan Wants to Have a Benefit Concert at MSG with an Audience Tested for Antibodies

This is a very dumb idea

MSG chairman James Dolan plays guitar. (James Keivom/NY Daily News Archive via Getty)
MSG chairman James Dolan plays guitar. (James Keivom/NY Daily News Archive via Getty)
NY Daily News via Getty Images

James Dolan — Knicks owner, Madison Square Garden owner and coward —  is not exactly known for his great ideas, and now, desperate to get fans back inside his arena, he’s got a real doozy: in a new op-ed he penned for the New York Post, Dolan says he wants to hold a benefit concert at the Garden with fans who have been tested for COVID-19 antibodies in attendance.

“For anyone who wanted to attend, the Garden would pay for antibody test beginning four weeks before the event. Those who pass will receive an antibody passport and be able to attend the show,” he writes. “These test results would be shared with health agencies to add to the growing research into the coronavirus. As we did with the 9/11 benefit show, The Concert for New York City, we would fill the floor with first responders and essential workers for free. All proceeds would go to COVID relief.”

“The concert would serve as an example of how we can resume our lives and stay safe,” Dolan continues. “Fast-response testing and prescreened customers that do not need to distance are options to explore and test. We must have the will and desire to do so. Our governments need to understand that the health of the city is not just measured by empty hospital beds. When we finally lift restrictions, how much of New York City will be left? How many more unemployed, homeless and shuttered businesses will there be? How many people will have permanently left the city? As of now, no one is coming here for Christmas.”

Of course, it’s worth noting that having COVID-19 antibodies doesn’t necessarily make you immune to the virus, and recent studies have found that those antibodies can fade from the body in as little as two months, so people who tested positive for the antibodies a month prior to the event might not even have them by the time it happens, depending on when they first developed them.

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