On August 21, 2013, the New York City Planning Commission unanimously ruled on an approval to build four hundred million dollars worth of luxury condominiums on the site of a Long Island City landmark, 5Pointz.
Located on 45–46 Davis Street in Queens, New York, 5Pointz: The Institute of Higher Burnin’ is largely considered to be the world’s graffiti mecca. In and on the walls of the 200,000 square foot factory building, since 1993 5Pointz has encouraged graffiti artists to display their work in a formal showcase to discourage conventional vandalism. Since its inception, 5Pointz has attracted aerosol artists, musicians, movie makers, and writers from all the world.
Though the artistic communities rallied together to protect 5Pointz, calling the warehouse, “….a place for artists to begin, to start to have hope and to dream,” the New York City council ruled with developer and co-owner David Wolkoff, who plans to demolish 5Pointz by the end of 2013. After demolition, the space will become the new site of a 1,000 unit apartment complex with 210 affordable housing units included. The new plan also includes 10,000 square feet exclusively for art panels and walls in the building, including ground level facades to be used for curated graffiti, but it is vastly less space than is currently available.
The loss of 5Pointz will signify a loss of communal artist space and a place of cultural and historical relevance. It will be a blow to the international artistic community, and will merely become another renowned and well-loved landmark that was replaced by condos.
Photos by Ivy Meissner
