Concessions workers at Madison Square Garden continued to sell alcohol to a visibly intoxicated off-duty police officer who later crashed his SUV and killed a two-year-old boy, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.

The suit naming the Garden and its parent company, Cablevision Systems Corp., was filed on behalf of the family of Jose Carlo Zelaya, the infant who died in the crash on the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City last January.

The boy's mother, Ruth Zelaya, has been in a coma since the accident.

Former Jersey City police officer Kevin Freibott is also named in the suit, as is Stitch Bar & Lounge, a bar on West 37th Street in Manhattan, a few blocks from the arena. The suit alleges the bar also served Freibott while he was intoxicated before he attended a basketball game between Pittsburgh and St. John's.

Freibott's Jeep Cherokee rear-ended the car in which the boy was riding. Freibott's blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.

Freibott, who had a history of driving offenses dating back to the mid-1980s, pleaded guilty in December to vehicular homicide and was fired from the force. He was sentenced last month to 11 years in prison and must serve nearly seven years before he's eligible for parole.

A spokesman for the Garden expressed sympathy for the Zelaya family but said the concessions workers adhered to the arena's policy of serving no more than two drinks per customer and not serving anyone who is obviously intoxicated.

Barry Watkins, the Garden's senior vice president of communications, added that alcohol service was stopped at a little after 9 p.m. on the night in question, or early in the second half of the game, which tipped off at 7:30 p.m. The accident occurred at about 11 p.m.

"Mr. Freibott blew three times the alcohol level more than two hours after the event ended at MSG, making it virtually impossible that Mr. Freibott did not continue drinking," MSG said in a statement issued Thursday night.

Samuel Davis, an attorney representing Ruth Zelaya's husband, Carlos, disputed the assertion that MSG complied with its policy.

"Our whole point is that they don't follow their own internal guidelines for when they cut off service," he said. "Our investigation shows they serve up to and even after the games."

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages as well as reimbursement of costs and fees. According to the lawsuit, Ruth Zelaya's medical care has already cost more than $3 million.

The lawsuit is similar to one filed against a Giants Stadium vendor by the family of a 2-year-old girl who was paralyzed in a 1999 car accident caused by a drunken driver leaving a Giants game.

A jury awarded the family of Antonia Verni $105 million in 2005, but that verdict was later overturned. A settlement was reached last year for an undisclosed amount.

"The similarity between these cases is that the message from the Verni case has not crossed the river. And that's tragic," Davis said.