Larry Brown might feel like a “dead man walking” these days, but don’t expect a fundraiser for the embattled Knicks coach – he’ll get millions of dollars from Knicks CEO James Dolan whether or not he coaches the team next year. If Dolan decides Brown should be given a golden parachute for his year of service at the Garden,the New York City Council should take a close look at how Dolan is able to pay off that $40 million farewell and how city,state,and federal laws have given him incredible business opportunities that are not afforded the average business owner.

Thanks to a deal cut in 1982 between then Madison Square Garden owner, Gulf and Western, and Mayor Ed Koch’s administration and an approval by Governor High Carey, the Garden was relieved of its city property tax bill and has not paid a dime in property taxes since. The City Council also grants a license to the Dolan family’s Cablevision holdings to run a cable TV franchise in various parts of the city.

There has been some talk of the Dolan family building a new arena behind the Farley Post Office on 33rd Street and 9th Avenue as part of a new transportation hub. Will the property tax deal signed in 1982 carry over to the new building? And more important, if there is a new Madison Square Garden built, will the Dolans pay taxes on that? This is a question that Mayor Bloomberg, the city council, the state legislature, and whoever wins the Gubernatorial election should be forced to answer. If that answer is no, then the follow up question should be, why? Why should the Dolans get a property tax break?

Neither the city nor the state should fall for the same line that they were fed in 1982, when Gulf and Western claimed that the cost of running the Knicks and Rangers in Manhattan was becoming burdensome and that it needed tax relief or the teams might have to move.The Knicks were, according to the Gulf and Western bosses, better off in Nassau County and the Rangers would fare much better in the Meadowlands.

Koch caved into the demands, and thus began the gift that keeps on giving. Madison Square Garden saves at least $11 million annually in property taxes, and a good portion of that money in the next four years might end up in Larry Brown’s pocket.

The Dolans get the tax break and make millions from cable TV each month. They have that ability to rake in cash because Congress deregulated the cable TV industry in the 1980s, and as long as MSG and its sister network, FOX Sports New York, can live on extended basic cable, they will be able to print money. But that could soon be changing.

The Dolans, who own the MSG Network and are partners in FOX Sports New York, collect about $4 each for somewhere between 3.8 and 4.5 million subscribers for both services, which means cable subscribers, whether they watch either channel or not, are paying more than $180 million a year in revenue for the channels. TV and government assistance help make the Knicks a lucrative business,which makes Dolan a lot of money.

But Dolan and a great many other sports owners and cable TV network executives may soon face a dramatic change and fighting for their professional lives. The Federal Communications Commission, led by Chairman Kevin Martin, has been pushing to allow consumers the right to choose what channels they want as part of their ca ble TV package.

In early May, Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) introduced a 135-page bill that would overhaul the nation’s telecommunications laws covering cable franchising, rural phone subsidies, Internet network neutrality, sports programming, and Internet piracy of digital-TV programming. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) introduced the Consumers Having Options in Cable Entertainment (CHOICE) Act.

In a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed piece co-written by Martin, McCain wrote, “American consumers have little choice when it comes to cable television. If you want ESPN, you must pay for 60-plus channels that you may never watch. If your child loves Nickelodeon, your family must pay for the same 60-plus channels, some of which may not be suitable for young children. Now, imagine deciding for yourself which TV channels you want to purchase. You could select the channels you want to pay for,and opt out of those you don’t. The solution to high cable bills isn’t price controls or additional government regulation. It is more competition and more choice.”

That is not what Dolan or the brass at Disney,FOX,Comacst,Time Warner,and other cable operators and networks want to hear from a high profile member of the Senate. If ratings are an indicator, ESPN could be the biggest loser, as a large majority of the cable and satelliteviewing audience never turns on cable TV’s most expensive channel. How many subscribers would sign up for ESPN at a much higher rate? Disney doesn’t want to know and has launched a campaign to fight a la carte service. Dolan stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, because very few cable subscribers watch MSG, and it’s unlikely, given a choice, that very many of them would sign up to watch MSG and FOX Sports New York.

That means those who do sign up will have to pay far more than the $4 a month the Dolans currently make per subscriber – perhaps even or five times the current rate.The same may hold true for ESPN, TNT, OLN, and the other sports networks.The sports money gravy cable TV train is headed for uneven track.

In the end, it may be Larry Brown who gets to laugh last in the ongoing Knicks soap opera. Brown may get his $40 million, and Dolan may have to sing for his supper to pay it if the city,state,and feds remove the property tax exemption and change cable TV rules. If you think the Knicks are bad now, just wait until the various layers of government change all the rules.