Pummeled Billy Joel fan sues Madison Square Garden
By Julia Marsh | September 23, 2014
Billy Joel concertgoers who’d had too much Captain Jack pummeled a fellow fan at Madison Square Garden last month, and now the injured Long Island man is suing the venue over the brawl.
Ari Ganeles, of Roslyn Heights, says in his new Manhattan civil suit that he was enjoying the Piano Man’s show with his wife when a drunk crowd in front of them spilled beer on fellow audience members.
Ganeles claims that not only did an usher refuse to toss the people out of the nosebleed section, but they continued to order drinks.
That’s when Ganeles said he was pulled from his seat and beaten “mercilessly" by the group.
He suffered a fractured right arm, torn right rotator cuff, fractured nose and ribs and other injuries.
His attorney, David Jaroslawicz, said the police were called on the night of Aug. 7. His client was slapped with a disorderly conduct ticket that was later dismissed, Jaroslawicz said.
Ganeles is suing because MSG has refused to hand over the identities of the alleged aggressors if he doesn’t first promise to absolve the venue of any legal responsibility for the incident, the filing states.
An Aug. 28 letter from Garden attorney Hal Weidenfeld to Jaroslawicz says the venue is holding on to video surveillance and incident reports though it has a policy not to turn over the evidence to third parties.
Madison Square Garden said in a statement: “We do not welcome anyone into The Garden who behaves in an inappropriate and violent manner in any way, and they will not be welcomed back. We are looking into the particulars of this incident."
Article posted from Page Six
