Long Island City
Queens
For several years now
there’s been whisperings about the closing of the 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center,Inc. to make way for the creation of modern luxury apartments. No one really
took them seriously—I mean, really?, tear down a NYC cultural icon? A place
visited by artists from around the world? A place referred to as the world’s
graffiti Mecca? But now it seems 5 Pointz is in real actual danger, and if the
building’s owner Jerry Wolkoff and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall have
their way, the complex will be evacuated by the end of this month and
demolished by September of this year. Hey, if it could happen to the original
Penn Station, it can happen to 5 Pointz.
Obviously, the 5 Pointz
structure isn’t architecturally iconic the way Stanford White’s Beaux-Arts
train station was, but its cultural importance is not to be disregarded. The
building was first established as the Phun Phactory as a way to discourage
vandalism by giving graffiti artists a formal place to showcase their art. The
name 5 Pointz is a spinoff from the old Irish community in Manhattan made
popular by the 2002 film Gangs of New
York. Five Points was a place where several cultures came together, much
like how 5 Pointz is a place where people from all over the world come
together. In 2002, artist Meres began officially curating the building,
inviting artists from all over the world to put up pieces. Unknown graffiti
artists can submit their work for consideration and receive recognition in the
community. The outdoor displays regularly change, with most pieces staying up
for a year or two, but a few iconic pieces, like portraits of Biggie Smalls or
Jam-Master Jay, are more permanent.
Besides having a
spectacular exterior covered in work by the world’s best graffiti artists
(several of them are represented by serious galleries like Mary Boone), the
interior houses 200 artist studios under the name Crane Street Studios that are
rented below market value. These artists regularly open their doors to the
community and sell their wares. The low cost of these studios—generally around
$300 to $600 a month—are a big part of the problem. The building makes very
little money and its upkeep is quite costly. A staircase collapsed in 2009,
nearly killing an artist living in the building, and the artists had to fight
against a mandatory evacuation.
It’s no wonder Wolkoff
and his son want the artists gone so they can build expensive, market-priced
luxury apartments. Despite the community board unanimously voting against the
building’s demolition, Wolkoff and Marshall are going ahead with plans.
Initially Wolkoff’s plans included a whopping five artist studios and absolutely
no affordable housing, but community pressure has caused him to increase
those numbers to twenty artist studios, seventy-five affordable housing units,
and a wall for graffiti art. Either way, many artists who can’t afford to live
anywhere else are going to be out on the street and hundreds of iconic graffiti
images will be destroyed.
Right now the building’s
only hope is for community members to pursue historic landmark designation for
the structure so it can’t be destroyed. The proposed building plan still needs
to be approved by the City Council and mayor, so there’s also the chance that
it will be turned down. Right now the proposed double-tour apartment complex
will house 1000 apartments, which is 370 more than what is allowed by zoning
laws. City Council and Mayor Bloomberg have until September 14th to
make their decision, and then Wolkoff has to try to get special permission to
build the extra units.
Hopefully NYC’s notorious
construction red tape will keep 5 Pointz around for a little bit longer.
Hopefully the artists in Long Island City will be successful in their landmark
status application. But, knowing how NYC strives for development, I suggest you
get your rear to the graffiti Mecca of the world post haste.
