5 Pointz

Description

Highly visible from the New York City Subway's IRT Flushing Line (7 <7> trains), it was considered to be "the world's premier graffiti mecca", where aerosol artists from around the globe painted colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m²) factory building. While 5 Pointz was across Jackson Avenue from MoMA PS1, it was not associated with the Museum of Modern Art; instead, it was private property, owned by Long Island developer Jerry Wolkoff.

It had housed the Crane Street Studios, in which 200 artists paid below-market rents for studio space. A 450-square-foot (42 m²) studio was listed as renting for $600 per month in 2009. 5 Pointz was described by an About.com contributor in 2008 as "a living collage of graffiti art covering a converted warehouse full of artist studios".

The name "5 Pointz" signifies the five boroughs coming together as one, but, because of its reputation as an epicenter of the graffiti scene, the industrial complex has united aerosol artists from across the world as well. Writers, including Stay High 149, Tracy 168, Cope2, Part, SPE, Dan Plasma and TATS CRU, have come from Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and all over the United States to paint on the building's walls. 5 Pointz had also been the subject of articles in newspapers such as The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and the International Herald Tribune.

Context and usage

The building was originally constructed in 1892 for Neptune Meter as a factory for the construction of water meters.

The property was bought in the 1970s by Jerry Wolkoff, who did not have immediate plans for redevelopment. Wolkoff was approached in the 1990s for permission for the factory to be used for legal graffiti work, which he granted. The site was first established as the Phun Phactory in 1993 by Pat DiLillo under a program called Graffiti Terminators. As the new curator for the Phun Factory, DiLillo was adamant to not use the word “graffiti” to refer to the work displayed at the Phun Factory, as “graffiti” had long been associated with crime and gang activity. In an effort to legitimize the art movement and set a distance from the negative connotation, he imposed strict rules for future projects. His rules included that none of the artwork submitted or showcased, would depict gang related symbols. Additionally, if any of the artists' tags were found in the neighborhood or neighboring communities, their work would be immediately removed. DiLillo was also credited by some young artists as the motivation for getting their GEDs and discouraging them from breaking the law.

In 2002, Jonathan Cohen, a graffiti artist going under the moniker of Meres One, began curating work. If unfamiliar with an artist, Cohen will ask for a sample of their work, and if it is a mural, he will ask for a layout as well. Cohen renamed the building to "5 Pointz," making the building a focal point to the art scene of the five boroughs. He had plans to convert the 5 Pointz building into a graffiti museum.

In April 2009, the New York City Department of Buildings ordered the largest building closed after citing it for numerous building deficiencies including the studio partitions which were built without permits. The inspections followed an incident on April 10, 2009, in which an artist was injured when part of a concrete fire escape collapsed.

Demolition plans

After 40 years of ownership, the Wolkoff family decided to develop the 5 Pointz site, stating that allowance of the murals on the building had been for temporary purposes and that redevelopment of the site had been planned ever since it started to be used for graffiti. On August 21, 2013, the New York City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve plans to build condos on the property, while the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected a landmark status nomination by artists because the art was less than 30 years old at the time. The development plans include two residential towers with retail space and affordable housing, for which purpose Wolkoff wanted to demolish 5Pointz by the end of 2013. On October 9, the New York City Council unanimously approved the $400 million plan to build a 1,000 unit apartment complex with 210 affordable housing units included. The plan calls for 10,000 square feet (930 m²) to be used exclusively for art panels and walls in the building, including ground level facades to be used for curated graffiti.

In October 2013 Cohen, speaking to The Guardian newspaper in London, made an appeal to the famous street artist, Banksy. Hoping that Banksy's influence could help save 5 Pointz, he said "We’re not asking you to give us money, but your words could help. Why don’t you put a comment out?”. This was in the midst of Banksy's highly publicized month-long residency in New York City, during which he released a new piece each day somewhere in the city and posted clues to its whereabouts on his website. There was no response from Banksy until October 31, the final day of his residency, when the message posted on his website which accompanied his last piece read, "Thanks for your patience. It's been fun. Save 5pointz. Bye."

On November 19, the graffiti on the exterior of the 5 Pointz building was painted white overnight, providing images that showed the building's previously graffiti-covered walls partially covered in white paint. A message posted to 5 Pointz's Twitter account on the morning of November 19 confirmed the reports. Despite a lawsuit filed by 5 Pointz proprietors, as well as a rally three days prior to gain petition signatures to protect the building from demolition, the sudden whitewashing indicated that it was already gone. However, on November 20, a ruling by a federal judge stated that the whitewashing could result in the Wolkoff family having to pay damages to 5 Pointz artists.

Asbestos abatement work began on the property in February 2014, the first step in the building demolition process. During this period a group of urban explorers entered to document the building's interior. as of August 2014, 5 Pointz was nearly fully demolished. By November 2014, most of the building was reduced to rubble, while part of the building's shell still stood.

Reactions

News of the building's demolition was generally negatively received by artists, and at least two works of protest have been done upon the building. On February 3, 2014, in protest of the building's demolition, artists sprayed "Art Murder" in big blue and red letters on the side of the building. On March 10, 2014, upset artists, who had lost a proposal to attain landmark status for the building, staged a protest by draping a large yellow "Gentrification In Progress" banner around the building. According to an article in Complex magazine in November 2014, some artists felt that they had been disrespected when the murals were painted over, and that they had lost a sense of community with the demolition of the building. Additionally, the destruction of 5 Pointz resulted in a scarcity of cheap and legal mural spaces, according to one artist interviewed. In lieu of 5 Pointz, some mural artists are going to Jersey City and the Bronx instead.

Another, similar controversy arose when Wolkoff decided to use "5 Pointz" as the name for the new condominiums being constructed on 5 Pointz's site. He had claimed to own the rights to the building's name because he owned the building; however, an application to trademark the name was rejected in March 2014 because it was too close to a similar, existing trademark. Wolkoff has said that the name refers to the building site, not the art; his comment had insulted some artists at the site, with two artists saying that "it's ironic that the same corporation which single-handedly destroyed all the artwork known as 5Pointz is trying to capitalize on its name" and that "the disrespect continues".

In popular culture

In 2011, 5 Pointz was the fictionalized site of a major fire in the series finale of the TV show Rescue Me.

The building has served as a backdrop for movies, including the climax for the 2013 film Now You See Me.

The striking, graffiti-covered warehouse has been used in music videos as well. Such videos are usually by several hip-hop and R&B stars, including Doug E. Fresh, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Caz, Mobb Deep, Rahzel, DJ JS-1, Boot Camp Clik, Joan Jett, and Joss Stone. In December 2014, before its final demolition, it was used in the King Truelove Christmas video "X Spells Christmas", written by John Truelove and directed by Terry King.