Knicks owner launches ‘Thank You, NYPD’ campaign complete with star-studded charity concert at MSG

The owner of the New York Knicks is spearheading a gratitude campaign for the NYPD that will be topped off with an exclusive, A-list concert at Madison Square Garden in late March.

James Dolan, the CEO of the MSG Network, launched the “Thank You, NYPD” initiative in an effort to encourage New Yorkers to boost the officers’ spirits.

The plan to fete the city force will include a show at MSG on March 28, to which thousands of officers will be invited.

“We’re very close with the NYPD. We interact with them almost every day – actually, every day. So we know them pretty well. And we just thought it was time to do something like this, that there’s too much rhetoric out there that is condemning the police. We feel that that’s not really how New Yorkers feel,” Nolan told The Post.

As part of the initiative, the public is encouraged to thank police officers directly, whether it’s in passing or submitting a video to the MSG Network that may later appear in advertising for the concert.

The concert itself will be open exclusively to NYPD officers, civilian employees with the department, and their loved ones, Dolan said.

Grammy Award-winning legends John Fogerty, Cyndi Lauper and rapper Fat Joe are all set to serenade the crowd. Comedians Chris Distefano and Sam Morril are also headlining.

Scores of celebrities, athletes, business leaders and other prominent New York figures are also set to attend.

Dolan is offering The Garden rent-free for the event, and will be footing all production and operating costs.

“What we’re trying to do is not be political with it. Administrations come, administrations go. The NYPD is always there. We’re really just focused on them, I hope we can all agree that we should be grateful for the efforts of the NYPD,” Dolan said.

The NYPD Foundation will dole out the estimated 15,000 concert invitations to officers and a plus one.

“We wish we could have them all, but if we had them all, then there’d be nobody protecting the rest of us,” he said of the force, which has about 33,000 officers and 15,000 civilian employees.

“We think that in your and my world, where there’s so much cynicism and negativity, that this was an opportunity to do something really positive for New York. And the NYPD is a really big piece of New York. Everybody I tell this to is excited about it, but I also have to tell them, ‘You can’t go, because you’re not a policeman’,” Dolan said.

“I hope it goes on forever. We should always be thanking our law enforcement,” he added.

Madison Square Garden has a history of rallying New Yorkers for big civic events, such as “The Concert for New York City” following the 9/11 attacks, “From the Big Apple to the Big Easy” after Hurricane Katrina and “12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief” following Super Storm Sandy.