Joe Germanotta, Lady Gaga’s father refuses to pay rent on his Art Bird & Whiskey Bar in Grand Central Terminal!

Joe Germanotta, the father of Lady Gaga owns a restaurant and bar at Grand Central Terminal. But the restaurateur has refused to pay its rent. Why? Read on to know the reason.

Joe Germanotta and the issue

The father of Lady Gaga, Joe Germanotta is the owner of a restaurant and bar named Art Bird & Whiskey Bar which is situated at the Grand Central Terminal train hub. But he has now refused to pay the rent for the place.

Joe opened this bar business in the year 2018. But due to the homeless people illegally staying in Grand Central’s basement food court his business has got affected. He said:

“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.”

The presence of the homeless people near his bar has led to a 30% decrease in his business, he said.

Joe refuses to make a rent payment

Lady Gaga’s father is upset and frustrated with the MTA’s refusal to address this important and pressing issue of illegal people lodging around his restaurant. Besides, there is a multitude of other issues which remain unaddressed and unrectified. These include problems of rodents, poorly maintained restrooms, and outdated seating.

All these reasons have affected Joe’s business and it is not performing to its full potential. Since the problems remain unaddressed, Joe decided that he would not pay the rent for the place as a mode of revolt. He owes the monthly rent of $ 40k and also $ 10k in fees each month. Now, he has not been paying a portion of this monthly rent.

He said:

“I don’t think they were prepared [to manage the space]. Quite frankly, I think they’re more interested in running the trains.”
“I’ve seen people washing their hair in the sink. I’ve seen a turd in the urinal,”

The businesses of other food court vendors in the area have also suffered.

The action from MTA

Joe has not been paying the rent for several months now. The dues have accumulated over time and have reached $ 260000 in rent and fees.

The MTA is demanding this amount. The authority wants Joe to fully pay this due money to them in the next two weeks. They have also threatened that they will begin the eviction process in case Joe fails to comply with these orders.

Joe has stated that if the MTA does not upgrade the place, he will leave and would demand compensation for the money he had invested in his bar.

MTA rep Tim Minton said:

“This is a landlord-tenant dispute, pure and simple, in which the landlord seeks to blame his financial struggles on anyone but himself. The fact that Mr. Germanotta does not appreciate someone who is less fortunate having a cup of coffee near his business is not the problem of the people of the state of New York, who don’t expect to have to subsidize his struggling business.”

Source: New York Post