LOWER EAST SIDE — Not even pouring rain can dampen the spirits of these Little Monsters.
Pop megastar Lady Gaga made an appearance at the New Museum on the Bowery Tuesday night for the U.S. launch of her new book LADY GAGA x TERRY RICHARDSON, featuring photos of her by the fashion photographer.
The line of fans had already secured tickets to the book-signing event last week, giving them a chance to meet the Grammy winner Gaga in the flesh - and nothing would stop them.
“Not the rain, not the snow. It could have been raining fire and I would be here,” said Bronx resident Kevin “Hooker” Candelario, 18, sporting bright blue lipstick, a nod to Gaga’s adventurous fashion taste.
“She is like the queen, an icon, a legend. And she fights for gay rights,” he said.
The book, featuring images of the "Born This Way" star taken by Richardson, gives readers an intimate look into the life of Gaga. The photographer followed the Upper West Side native around for more than a year to complete the project.
Gaga wrote the book's introduction and, in a video introducing the project, dedicated it to her “Little Monsters,” a term she endearingly uses for her legions of fans.
Robby Reed, 18, a retail assistant, made the trip down from Boston twice for the chance to meet Gaga — last week to secure his spot at the signing, and Tuesday to meet her in person.
“We slept here overnight,” he said of last week's trip to get a spot at the signing.
Reed said he previously met Gaga at an appearance in Union Square, noting she was three hours late to that event.
“I can’t wait that long this time," said Reed, wearing large gold platformed shoes. "I will die.”
The New Museum sits just blocks from Gaga's old one-bedroom apartment on Stanton Street, which recently went up for rent for $1,850 a month.
For Amanda Beltran, a 23-year-old veterinary technician from New Jersey, it was hard to focus at work Tuesday knowing she was going to meet Gaga for the first time.
“This is one of my life’s goals,” she said. “To be reaching it right now is insane.”
Despite the poor weather, Beltran said she was happy to be standing with other Gaga fans.
“They are just like us — a Little Monster,” she said.
