A Grand Central Terminal restaurateur is refusing to pay $260,000 in rent and fees to New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority because he says a growing homeless population in the landmark station is hurting business.
The owner of Art Bird & Whiskey Bar, Joe Germanotta, said Thursday that he wants the MTA to release him from his lease, which expires in 2028, or to renegotiate his rent and fees, which total about $50,000 a month.
“I want to stay,” said Mr. Germanotta, who opened in 2018. “I just can’t afford to under these conditions.”
Earlier in the week, the MTA sent a letter to Mr. Germanotta, seeking payment of a $260,000 debt. The letter, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, warned that if the sum weren’t paid within two weeks, the authority would begin proceedings to repossess the 1,900-square-foot space on the terminal’s lower-level dining concourse.
Joe Germanotta, owner of Art Bird & Whiskey Bar. PHOTO: JOSE A. ALVARADO JR. FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Mr. Germanotta, who is pop star Lady Gaga’s father, said that if he couldn’t come to an agreement with the MTA, he intended to demand that the authority repay the more than $1.5 million he invested in the restaurant’s construction, plus loss of business.
Mr. Germanotta and other business owners in the concourse say they are struggling because of a homeless problem, rodent infestations and outdated furniture and facilities. Monthly rents and fees for space in the concourse can total tens of thousands of dollars.
A person familiar with other businesses on the dining concourse said that at least one other restaurant has stopped paying rent because of hardship. That firm owes the MTA more than $100,000, the person said.
MTA officials say only a few businesses are struggling at the terminal and that comparable sales across the dining concourse increased by 6.3% last year compared with 2018. Some business owners have previously said that although the terminal can be challenging, they are doing well thanks to the 800,000 tourists and commuters estimated by the MTA to pass through the station daily.
RELATED COVERAGE New York City Launches New Push to Combat Street Homelessness Federal Data Show Nearly 80,000 Homeless in New York City New York’s MTA Deploys Transit Officers to Handle Homeless in the Subway Cathy Rinaldi, president of Metro-North Railroad, which operates out of the terminal, said that homelessness was an issue. But she said that outreach efforts, including by MTA police, was helping to reduce the number of people sheltering in the station.
”We have not cured this problem,” Ms. Rinaldi said. “But I do think some of these initiatives are bearing fruit.”
The MTA is struggling with a growing homelessness problem that poses a challenge for transit agencies across the U.S. Grand Central Terminal is a safe, warm refuge for many people, especially during the winter.
A chef prepares food at the Art Bird & Whiskey Bar. PHOTO: JOSE A. ALVARADO JR. FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The authority, in a report last summer, blamed a 3% drop in gross sales between 2017 and 2018 on the concourse’s outdated design and a persistent homeless problem.
The authority has said that it planned to renovate the concourse over the coming years and officials have said the agency would increase efforts to combat homelessness.
MTA Police Chief Al Stiehler said his officers conduct well-being checks on people, but they won’t eject anyone as long as they follow the terminal’s rules. “These are people, they are suffering, they need help, they need assistance and we will do everything we can every day to provide them the help that they need,” Mr. Stiehler said. “We are very mindful to protect their rights.”
An MTA spokesman said that Mr. Germanotta was, in effect, asking the people of the state of New York to subsidize his business. ”Rather than improve his business or find the financial wherewithal to pay and meet his obligations, he chooses to go to the Wall Street Journal and other reporters and seek to litigate in the court of public opinion,” the spokesman said.
Mr. Germanotta attended an MTA board meeting Monday in lower Manhattan, where he told commissioners about his and other business owners’ struggles at the terminal. He cited the poor state of public bathrooms and issues with homelessness.
MTA board member, Neal Zuckerman said Monday in an interview that the situation at the terminal was unsettling.
Mr. Zuckerman, who represents Putnam County, said the homeless situation puts people off buying food and affects commuters’ quality of life. He lamented ”the loitering and frankly harassment I see constantly throughout Grand Central from the homeless problem.”
Another board member, Norman Brown, who represents Metro-North unions, said workers at the terminal find conditions challenging and threatening. ”The customers pass through, but our members live there,” Mr. Brown said.