Wrighter 
lady gaga’s dad loses sleep over migrant crisis, says group has taken over his posh neighborhood
Lady Gaga’s dad Joe Germanotta has lost his sleep over the migrant crisis in New York after an unruly group of migrants took over his neighborhood. The restaurateur said it began six weeks ago when the Stratford Arms Hotel was quietly and quickly transformed into a shelter for hundreds of migrants.
Germanotta described it as a stealth operation. “They were bused in, in the middle of the night, like when they fly them into Westchester, they didn’t want anybody to know what was going on. It was pretty rapid.”
He says there’s now a constant stream of hookers coming and going, people playing loud music and racing their motorbikes up and down the streets all night. The 66-year-old is compiling concerns with fellow residents and plan on taking it to the lawmakers, the NYPD and homeless services. They have formed the West 70th Street Association to lobby City Hall for more policing and supervision of the migrants.
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“Most of the people in my building are owners. They feel that this situation has affected their property values.” Germanotta revealed that one of his restaurants had lost 30 percent of its business because of a nearby population of homeless people. “We are compassionate, but it affects our customers. When the homeless invade our areas, it becomes a less attractive place.”
The owner of restaurant Joanne Trattoria believes the quality of life in the area has taken a hit. There are impromptu block parties outside the hotel and go into early morning, prostitution, kids getting catcalled and reckless e-bikes and motor scooter drivers wrecking havoc on one-way streets. The father of Bad Romance singer said he doesn’t mind the migrants living there. “They’re gonna be there for three years. That was the contract, I understand. But at least manage it. Put proper security in place, have a police presence and a code of conduct.”
He highlighted that the sidewalks they used to be mostly clean are now filled with trash and expressed concerns about the hypodermic needles. Germanotta and fellow residents want to meet with New York’s chief adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. They want to see a written plan, with targets, dates and objective for the betterment of their neighborhood.
