After the beautiful artwork of 5Pointz, the famous 200,000 square foot mecca for street artists, was completely whitewashed in mid-November of 2013, fans must now relive their grief as the once-iconic buildings are scheduled to be completely torn down.
The buildings first opened in 1933 in Long Island City as the Phun Factory Aerosol Art Center. The horseshoe complex was bought by Jerry Wolkoff in 1973. Wolkoff then rented out the spaces to artists who were in need of cheap offices.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
15 years later, 5Pointz was created when an artist asked Wolkoff to use the façade of the art center as a canvas. For 30 years, the complex served as a platform for street artists to gain fame and credibility to their work.
The name 5Pointz not only signifies the unity between artists in the five boroughs, but it also illustrates the area as an “epicenter of the graffiti scene,” according to the 5Pointz bio on their website. Artists like Stay High 149 from Virginia, Tats Cru from the Bronx, and Joel Bergner from Brazil have visited 5Pointz for inspiration and to share their art with the world.
5Pointz is located in the ever-developing community of Long Island City. Since the birth of 5pointz, the MoMA has bought an out-of-commission public school a block away from the building, MoMA PS 1, to use as an extension of the museum in Manhattan. Most importantly, 5pointz is located right on the Hudson River, offering a spectacular view of the New York skyline. It comes as no surprise that such a piece of land worth millions of dollars would be in high demand.
Over the years, the space has deteriorated; in 2009, an artist was almost crushed by a collapsing staircase. It was deemed unfit for office space. “It would have cost millions to repair the building,” said Wolkoff. He was looking for an alternative to make money, so when City Council finally gave the landlord permission in September to build two 45-story buildings, it was hard to pass up the opportunity.
Hundreds signed petitions online and stood outside the complex trying to put up one last battle to protect this haven for graffiti artists by having it named a landmark. Several of these protestors called on Banksy, the renowned British street artist, to make a comment and join their side. On the last day of his month-long visit to New York, in which he tagged many buildings with his artwork, he finally commented on the issue at hand. Off of the Long Island Expressway, two miles away from the graffiti mecca, Banksy hung letter-shaped balloons spelling out, “Thanks for your patience. It’s been fun. Save 5 Pointz. Bye.”
Despite their efforts, a team commissioned by Wolkoff, without giving any previous notice, whitewashed the building, erasing the work of hundreds. This caused an uproar at rippled throughout the street-artist community. Marie Flaguel, a spokeswomen for the group trying to save 5Pointz, said, “This is the biggest rag and disrespect in the history of graffiti.” Wolfkollff defended his actions saying that he was only trying to “avoid a protracted destruction that would have made the loss more painful to the artists who’ve painted there.”
Recently, I visited the site to check on the progress of the project. It was a bittersweet moment. Next to some whitewashed façades on the abandoned streets that were once crowded with budding artists and fascinated spectators, the colors of other buildings still shone as brightly as ever. A moment later, I was reminded by the gaps in the barriers that surrounded the rubble and dirt from a torn-down wall of the complex, that soon the walls that produced innovative art be torn down, burying 40 years of work.
The luxury towers are predicted to rise at the end of the year, adding two more buildings to the collection of hundreds of glass towers on the New York skyline.
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