Who is Joe Germanotta? Lady Gaga's dad leads charge against migrant situation surrounding his restaurant

American pop star Lady Gaga's father, Joe Germanotta, has led an effort against hundreds of unruly migrants who have "taken over" his Upper West Side, a New York City neighborhood, stating that they are abusing residents, among more bad behavior. On August 9, media outlet The New York Post published a report where the 37-year-old star's father expressed his concerns about the migrants' behavior in his neighborhood.

The 66-year-old personality resides in the Upper West Side's Pythian apartment complex, which is near the Stratford Arms Hotel. The hotel was recently transformed into a migrant shelter housing 500 people. Joe Germanotta has now claimed that there is now a constant stream of partying, pr*stitution, and other such questionable behavior due to the migrants.

“If it was like this when my girls were growing up, I wouldn’t be living in New York. It was a stealth operation. They were bused in the middle of the night, like when they flew them into Westchester, they didn’t want anybody to know what was going on. There are now 500 migrants living in that dormitory. That’s when all the mayhem began."

Adding onto it, Joe Germanotta, Lady Gaga's father, said that he does not mind the migrants living in their neighborhood, but there should be rules and regulations to conduct themselves.

“I don’t mind having them there. They’re gonna be there for three years. That was the contract, I understand. But at least manage it. Put the proper security in place, have a police presence and a code of conduct. They’re guests in our neighborhood, and they have basically taken over.”

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Lady Gaga's father detailed the disturbances caused by the migrants

Ever since the migrants shifted to Joe Germanotta's New York City neighborhood, the businessman, who owns Italian restaurant Joanne's Trattoria, said that the area's quality of life has degraded because of the constant stream of parties outside his hotel that last all night.

Moreover, there are other unruly behaviors that have wreaked havoc on the streets like prostitution, kids being catcalled, and reckless motorbike drivers. Lady Gaga's father added:

“Ho*kers are coming and going. In the mornings, you see pr*stitutes coming out of the building. The worst part’s at night. The noise. It starts at about 10 o’clock, and it’ll go until 4 in the morning. Playing music and racing their motocross and motorbikes up and down the streets.”

Since then, people who live in Germanotta's building, where he is head of the board, and three nearby buildings have formed the West 70th Street Association to ask City Hall for more police and better care for the migrants.

Lady Gaga's father said the unrest has ripped at the neighborhood's fiber, taking residents by surprise and decreasing local property prices. He said that because the neighbors are verbally abused, people don't even walk their dogs by that area anymore.

Moreover, he said that the sidewalks are mostly dirty and filled with trash, and was particularly shocked to see hypodermic needles lying around.

While speaking about Eric Adams' response to the situation, Lady Gaga's father said that the mayor should "suspend 'sanctuary city' status" until they can house more people in the city.

"It's a joke. Why doesn't he get one of the cruise ships? The cruise ships hold more people, and it's a more controlled environment. The city is spending a tremendous amount of money that could be spent towards building affordable housing. The really sad part is that in the neighborhood, we still have our share of veterans and homeless — but we're not taking care of our own. They don't get food every day. It's really sad. I feel for them.'"

As of writing, there is no other update regarding the situation.