Hockey fan dies in escalator fall after Rangers game at MSG

metro

by Craig McCarthy And Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

March 22, 2023 | 6:07 p.m

The son of the owner of a popular Big Apple restaurant died in a freak fall in Madison Square Garden after a Rangers game last weekend, officials said.

Sources told The Post that Ernest Fogliano, 61, was riding an escalator inside the world’s most famous arena when he fell two to three floors to his death around 10:40 p.m. on Saturday.

His family and officials said his death was later ruled accidental.

Fogliano’s widow Lisa hired a lawyer to get to the bottom of the incident, claiming she was kept in the dark about how it happened.

“We have no idea what happened, but they do know,” family attorney Fred Eisenberg told The Post. “We have to review the evidence.

“He was there, and we know he died,” Eisenberg said. “We’d like to know how.”

The NYPD reported a 911 call to an injured person in the yard around 10:40 p.m. Saturday and found an unresponsive man with head trauma.

Police said Fogliano was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An FDNY representative said Wednesday that he had no record of a call to the park, so it’s not immediately clear how Fogliano was brought to the hospital.

An autopsy by the city medical examiner concluded that Fogliano had died as a result of blunt force trauma and ruled his death in the park an accident.

But Eisenberg said Lisa was never given the details, prompting him on Wednesday to file a demand for MSG officials to preserve all evidence related to Fogliano’s death, including surveillance video footage, so it can be reviewed.

The incident comes as MSG owner James Dolan’s company is under investigation by the New York State Liquor Authority, which could potentially see the agency revoke liquor licenses for not just the park, but Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre.

Dolan has also come under fire for using facial recognition technology to prevent fans he deemed unwelcome from attending his workplaces – including attorneys with whom he has a legal relationship.

In an email Wednesday, a rep for MSG called Fogliano’s death a “tragic accident” unrelated to the government’s alcohol investigation.

“A fan at a Rangers game last Saturday was injured in a tragic accident while exiting the stadium and was immediately taken to a local hospital where he passed away,” the email read. “My deepest and most sincere condolences to his loved ones.”

Fogliano’s father, the late Ernest Sr., was the longtime owner of Il Vagabondo Restaurant on East 62nd Street, a once Italian social court that developed into a popular restaurant whose patrons included the likes of Cindy Crawford and Tom Hanks in its heyday.

The younger Fogliano was the founder of Monster Productions, a New York City web design firm, and publisher of Aspen Aces & Eights magazine.