The chairman of Madison Square Garden, Jim Dolan, may be the most polarizing owner in sports today, and that could mean big trouble for him in the near future. Dolan wants a new MSG, but he may have tripped himself up by being found guilty of sexual harassment in the Anucha Browne Sanders case; by possibly going to trial in another sexual harassment suit that has been filed by a former captain of the New York Rangers cheerleading squad, and by launching an antitrust lawsuit against the NHL. All of these legal actions could result in Dolan failing to get a new Garden built with funding from taxpayers.

Taken point by point, Dolan faces some major hurdles in rehabilitating his image in New York. Politicians and the general public might balk when it comes to Dolan getting money, tax breaks, and tax incentives. He’d like to build his new arena with luxury boxes that are not attached to the ceiling, and club seats that are not obstructed, as is the present case at the Garden. The current Garden on Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street — unlike the old Garden on Eighth Avenue and 49th Street — was built more like an outdoor football stadium than an indoor arena, and was already outdated when it opened its doors in 1968.

Dolan lost his gamble when he decided to defend himself, the Garden, and Isiah Thomas in Browne Sanders’s complaint. The case exposed the Garden’s business practices, and the aftermath may include a Garden boycott led by the Reverend Al Sharpton. Dolan plans to appeal the case and Sharpton may picket the Garden — that’s a recipe for a public relations disaster, which politicos and the public will follow.

But as Al Jolson once said: You ain’t seen nothing yet. The second sexual harassment lawsuit — filed by former Rangers’ cheerleader Courtney Price — probably picked up a lot of steam after a jury awarded Browne Sanders an $11.5 million award.

City politicians have gone silent on Dolan and his plans for a new Garden. Dolan already gets millions of dollars a year from the city by not paying property taxes. A quarter-century ago, then-Garden owners Gulf and Western threatened to move the Knicks to the Nassau Coliseum and the Rangers to the new Meadowlands Arena, because the property tax burden was too high, and as a result, there wasn’t money left to spend on players. Mayor Koch bought into the Garden’s woes, and the property tax burden was lifted.

The reality is that Dolan doesn’t need a new building, and the city doesn’t need to finance his dream. The city is already paying big bills for minor league baseball parks in Brooklyn and on Staten Island, as well as the infrastructure for the Yankees’ and Mets’ new stadiums. It will also put up a chunk of money for Bruce Ratner’s planned Brooklyn project, which includes a basketball arena for Ratner’s Nets.

Dolan has no leverage with the city in forcing politicians to spend money on his wants. Where would he relocate the Knicks? Louisville or Kansas City or Oklahoma City? Where would he relocate the Rangers? Hartford or Kansas City or Winnipeg? The Rangers are selling out their games, while the Knicks’ season subscription rate is at 91%, despite last year’s 33–49 record.

He also helped to lead the opposition against a plan to put a football and an Olympic stadium at the Hudson Yards between 30th and 34th streets and Eleventh and Twelfthavenues. Yet, Dolanwants land for a new Garden a few blocks away. The stadium could have put a major dent in the concert business of Dolan’s Garden and Radio City Music Hall. He was against public subsidies for the stadium, but he takes subsidizes for the Garden, and certainly would welcome public dollars and land for a new Garden. This is possibly another public relations nightmare.

Meanwhile Dolan himself is suing the NHL on antitrust grounds because the NHL has taken over the Web sites of all 30 teams. (MLB did the same with its 30 teams, which did not make the Yankees’ ownership too happy at the time.) That has deprived Dolan of an opportunity to make extra revenues from his Web site. Dolan, believe it or not, may have some allies among NHL owners in challenging the league.

Dolan is — of course — a partner in the NHL. As a rule, fellow owners don’t take kindly to being sued. But Dolan joins a list of owners who have sued their leagues on several antitrust issues, including the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, who had a beef with his fellow owners in 1995. Jones filed a $750 million antitrust suit, alleging the NFL’s merchandising division was an illegal cartel. Eventually, Jones got his way, but he did have an ace in the hole. He was on the league’s TV committee and was bringing in billions of dollars from TV deals. So the owners forgave him. That’s unlikely to happen with Dolan, even though Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Network gives millions to fellow owners Charles Wang and Jeffrey Vanderbeek for television rights to their Islanders and Devils. Ironically, Wang and Dolan are also partners in a venture called Neu-Lion, which is supposed to provide video packages for NHL Web sites.

With all of this scandalous turmoil surrounding Dolan, why would any politician champion his cause for a new arena? It is a good thing for him, as Jerry Seinfeld pointed out in a routine years ago, that people root for dirty laundry. The real games aren’t taking place at the Garden. The real Garden action is in courtrooms, thanks to Jim Dolan.

evanjweiner@yahoo.com