Madison Square Garden is calling foul on the wife of a longtime Knicks fan, saying she skipped out on her $97,865 bill for several prime season tickets — despite cashing in on “tens of thousands of dollars” by reselling the seats, a new lawsuit charges.
MSG Sports and Entertainment, which manages The Garden, wants Terry Klein, 66, to pay the balance she allegedly owes for a total of 10 2015-16 season tickets, the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit says.
Klein — whose hubby is Knicks diehard Fred Klein, 82, a former co-owner of the Carnegie Deli — allegedly resold 90 percent of the 440 total tickets for the “prime courtside” seats and raked in the profits without paying MSG, according to the complaint.
The tickets covered pre- and regular-season home games in prime seats throughout The World’s Most Famous Arena.
They originally carried a total face value of $101,225 but the total came down to $97,865 because Klein — who’d bought season tickets in prior years — had a $3,360 balance from the year before.
MSG gave Klein the tickets in advance of payment because of its “longtime relationship” with Fred, a “loyal, respected Knicks fan for decades,” the suit says.
In a December 2015 email, Klein allegedly acknowledged she’s on the hook for the balance, the court papers say.
“Based on MSG’s long relationship with Klein’s husband, MSG departed from its typical practice by giving Klein a generous amount of time to pay for the seats, and made every effort to resolve this issue without having to file formal litigation,” the suit says.
“However, despite Klein’s express prior assurances that she would pay for the tickets, her payment default has continued unabated and MSG has no choice but to pursue this matter in the courts.”
In 2011, Fred Klein told The Post he was missing his first home season opener since 1959 because, with the protracted lockout that season, he and Terry had made other plans for the holidays, going to the Bahamas instead of the Christmas Day game.
“Am I pissed off?” he said. “I’m upset. I would love to see it.”
Reached Monday, Terry denied allegations that she’s refusing to pay up and said she’s just fallen behind on payments.
“We lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in tickets because we couldn’t give them away,” Terry said, adding that Fred has Alzheimer’s. “People did give me money for tickets but I used it to live. I didn’t refuse to pay.”
She then scoffed: “This is pay back after so many years of loyalty.”
“Despite MSG’s established policies to receive payment before tickets are provided, MSG gave Ms. Klein, a 50+ year patron of the Knicks, a grace period in which to pay for the 10 tickets she used last season, and was given many promises by Ms. Klein that she would pay. However, after not receiving payment for the tickets – many of which she received money for after reselling them – Ms. Klein left MSG no choice,” said MSG spokeswoman Kimberly Kerns. “Despite this, we allowed her husband to continue to purchase his two tickets for the games based on his longstanding support of the team.”