Lady Gaga’s father Joe Germanotta is holding back payments on one of his New York City restaurants over claims that the homeless population is hurting his business.
Germanotta owns two restaurants in the city: Joanne Trattoria on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and Art Bird & Whiskey Bar, which is located at the dining concourse of Grand Central Station – a busy transportation hub.
The latter location is the one he says is struggling due to the presence of homeless people in the station.
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Germanotta is withholding about $260,000 in rent and fees for the venue to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Tim Minton, the MTA’s Communications Director, confirmed the information with The Independent.
Plans for the MTA to buy Grand Central Terminal for $35m were announced in November 2018.
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16/49 13 February 2020
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AFP via Getty
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Thailand security forces take cover behind an ambulance as they chase a shooter hidden in a shopping mall after a mass shooting in front of the Terminal 21, in Nakhon Ratchasima
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AFP via Getty
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Health teams and fire brigade crews surround a passenger plane which split into three pieces after it skidded off the runway at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey
Anadolu Agency via Getty
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Sri Lanka’s military march with national flags during the 72nd independence day ceremony, in Colombo
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Getty
29/49 31 January 2020
Stefan Kraft soars through the air during a qualifying session for the men’s large hill individual competition at the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup event in Sapporo, Japan
EPA
30/49 30 January 2020
Commuters with protective facemasks wait to board a canal boat at Pratunam Pier in Bangkok. A Thai surgical mask factory, producing 10 million masks a month, increased working hours to cope with the rising demand following the outbreak of the coronavirus in China
AFP via Getty
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An Israeli soldier fires teargas towards Palestinian protestors during a demonstration in al-Aroub Palestinian refugee camp, between the West Bank towns of Hebron and Bethlehem
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Firefighters with their face painted with the movie character ‘Joker’, participate in a demonstration against the pension reforms and for better work conditions in Paris
EPA
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Flowers outside Bryant Gymnasium at Lower Merion High School, in Philadelphia, as people pay their respects after basketball legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash
Reuters
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US singer-songwriter Lizzo performs onstage during the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles
AFP via Getty
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A Lebanese anti-government protester in makeshift protective gear stands under a water jet as security forces move to disperse a demonstration near government headquarters at the Grand Serail, in downtown Beirut
AFP via Getty
36/49 24 January 2020
A protester holds a sign reading “On the move” mocking the LREM party’s slogan during a demonstration in Paris, as part as a nationwide multi-sector strike against the French government’s pensions overhaul
AFP via Getty
37/49 23 January 2020
A Chinese police officer wears a protective mask as he stands guard next to an ad before the annual Spring Festival at a Beijing railway station. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to over 500 in mainland China as health officials locked down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have been confirmed can be passed from human to human
Getty
38/49 22 January 2020
Visitors wear face masks as they sit inside the Venetian casino hotel resort in Macau, after the former Portuguese colony reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus that originated from Wuhan in China.
AFP via Getty
39/49 21 January 2020
Marine One helicopter with US President Donald Trump on board arrives for the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland
Reuters
40/49 20 January 2020
A man walks between burning tires during ongoing anti-government protests in Najaf, Iraq
Reuters
41/49 19 January 2020
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, (second row, left to right) arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit, African Union (AU) Committee Chairman Moussa Faki, European Council President Charles Michel, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pose for a family picture during a Peace summit on Libya at the Chancellery in Berlin
AFP via Getty
42/49 18 January 2020
Sweden’s Jennie-Lee Burmansson competing in the final run of the Freestyle Skiing Womens Freeski Slopestyle at the Leysin Park in Leysin, during the 2020 Lausanne Winter Youth Olympic Games
AFP via Getty
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Firefighters take part in a demonstration to protest against the attacks against them during interventions in Strasbourg. During the New Year’s Eve night in Strasbourg, two firefighters were notably injured following a projectile thrown onto the window of their truck. Last weekend, three firefighters were victims of a stabbing by a person they came to rescue in the outskirts of the city.
AFP via Getty
44/49 16 January 2020
People enjoy the frozen lake of Houhai in Beijing ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Rat. – The Lunar New Year falls on January 25 this year and marks the Year of the Rat.
AFP via Getty
45/49 15 January 2020
Taiwanese soldiers operate a CM-11 battle tank during an exercise at a military base in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan
AFP via Getty
46/49 14 January 2020
A resident who briefly returned home to retrieve belongings carries figurines of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level to four out of five, warning that a hazardous eruption could take place anytime, as authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of people from the area
Getty
47/49 13 January 2020
Mini’s driver Jakub Przygonski and his co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete in Stage 8 of the Dakar 2020 around Wadi Ad-Dawasir
AFP via Getty
48/49 12 January 2020
People take photos of a phreatic explosion from the Taal volcano from the town of Tagaytay in Cavite province, southwest of Manila
AFP via Getty
49/49 11 January 2020
An injured Syrian child cries after being transported to a clinic for treatment following an air strike by pro-regime forces on the nothwestern city of Idlib
AFP via Getty
Germanotta told The Wall Street Journal he wants the MTA to set him free from his lease, scheduled to expire in 2028, or to renegotiate it. His rent and fees currently come to $50,000 a month.
“I want to stay,” Germanotta told the newspaper. “I just can’t afford to under these conditions.”
He also told the New York Post: “The homeless go in there to stay warm. We’re compassionate, but it affects our customers. When the homeless invade our areas, it becomes a less attractive place.”
Minton described the situation to The Independent as a “landlord-tenant dispute” and called the Grand Central food court a “retailer’s dream”.
“The reality is homeless people deserve the same rights and the same compassion as everybody else,” Minton said.
A letter from the MTA reviewed by The Wall Street Journal says the authority will begin repossessing the property if payments aren’t made within two weeks.
According to CBS, Germanotta attended an MTA committee meeting on Monday and pitched a potential plan, in which a special space would be dedicated to homeless people – with free food donations coming from the area’s restaurants.
Germanotta reportedly said he knew of several restaurant owners who would join in the donations.
However, Chief Al Stiehler of the MTA raised objections, stating: “I just think segregating people like that is taking us down a bad road.”
The Independent has contacted Art Bird & Whiskey Bar for comment.