Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee for New York governor, promised last November to erect a wall of spy gear, license plate readers, and biometric surveillance between the city and the suburbs. He has since received millions of dollars in donations from the family and businesses of James Dolan, the owner of Madison Square Garden, where a network of cameras capture the faces of (nearly) every patron who walks in the arena and corporate security forces hunt for critics of the boss.
\n\nDolan’s support of Blakeman, the executive of suburban Nassau County, could be seen as something of a counterintuitive move in a state long run by Democrats, and in a year when political surveys are picking up indications of a blue wave. He’s down by nine points or more in most polls.
\n\nBlakeman, however, backs data centers, AI deepfakes, Flock surveillance, ICE, private militias, and president Donald Trump. All of which makes him at least somewhat simpatico with Dolan, the Trump-allied magnate operating the sports world’s best-known surveillance state. Dolan has long been a mercurial presence in the political game, and in fact, as Politico notes, he supported Blakeman’s opponent, Governor Kathy Hochul, during the last election. Dolan’s sheer amount…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/