Barclays Center owner Bruce Ratner is trying to defend against a power play.
The developer, who hopes to bring six New York Islanders games a season to a slimmed-down Nassau Coliseum once the team moves to Brooklyn, said he doesn’t think Madison Square Garden can block the move.
“I don’t think it requires [MSG’s] approval,” Ratner told Fox Business Network yesterday. “It doesn’t, actually.”
Ratner’s plan is part of his bid to win the Coliseum renovation job. He is battling bids from three other developers, including MSG.
The Post revealed last week that MSG and the NHL would have to approve the Islanders home-games split, making the promise far from a sure thing.
Asked if MSG would veto his plan to move six games to the much-smaller arena, he told FBN, “I don’t think they can. I don’t think that’s true. But even if they could . . . at the end of the day, why would anybody deny the people of Long Island the right to see a team?”
An MSG spokesman declined to comment.