Lady Gaga’s father and restaurant owner Joe Germanotta has shared his unfavourable thoughts about New York City.
On Thursday (9 February), Joe Germanotta appeared on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria where he spoke about how he feels crime and inflation have affected his business. Germonatta owns the Italian restaurant Joanne Trattoria in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
When asked by anchor Maria Bartiromo about how “does New York feel” to him, he replied: “I think the city is a mess. It looks horrible.”
“People coming from Connecticut and Long Island, maybe they’re going to Lincoln Center for a show,” he continued. “Then they’re walking around, it smells like weed everywhere.”
“The city looks terrible, from just probably four years ago,” he added. “It’s dirtier, there’s a lot more people out on the street. It seems filthy.”
Germanotta’s comments come after a recent poll from Quinnipiac University showed that 66 per cent of registered voters in New York City think crime is a very serious problem.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) also released its citywide crime data from 30 January, 2023 to 5 February, 2023, showing that crime increased slightly over the past year.
During his appearance on the Fox Business Network program, Germanotta also detailed how the fame from his daughter Lady Gaga – whose real name is Stefani Germanotta – has impacted his life.
“I used to wake up and think to myself, you know what? What happened? You know, where did this come from? You know, I’m, you know, I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world,” he told Bartiromo.
This isn’t the first time the New York resident has spoken out against crime. In February 2021, Germanotta condemned the dognappers who stole his daughter’s two French bulldogs, Koji and Gustavo, at gunpoint.
“We’re just sick over it, it’s really horrible,” he said in an interview with The New York Post. “It’s like someone took one of your kids.”
Germanotta, who is also the owner of Art Bird & Whiskey Bar located in Grand Central Station, had reportedly held back payments on the restaurant over claims that the homeless population is hurting his business.
The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2020 that Germanotta was withholding about $260,000 in rent and fees for the venue to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Germanotta explained that 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.”
That same year, Lady Gaga’s father revealed he voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 US presidential election when he tweeted his support for the candidate.
