And just like that, the whole damn thing was white-washed. The famed city-sanctioned Graffiti Mecca
Five Pointz in Queens' Long Island City that was centered across a 200,000 square-foot building, has vanished overnight.Developers Jerry & David Wolkoff intend to raze the former water plant and replace it with a 1,000-unit apartment complex, comprising two high-rise luxury apartment buildings, 47 and 41 stories tall.
For the last 20 years, Five Pointz has served as an outpost for writers and artists from around the world. More than 1,500 panels of art by 300+ artists from around the world were painted over November 19, as protesters rallied unsuccessfully to save the landmarked locale.
The nabe there is still pretty shady, but like much of New York, boutiques and creative restaurants have been inching in, likely because of the presence of the mammoth Citibank office complex just blocks away from Five Pointz. Sad, yes, but such is the price of gentrification. Take a look at Manhattan's Bowery district if you want to see the ultimate gentrification....I visited Five Pointz for the first time in April 2013, when Ayhan Sahin's Young Pals Music lensed a dazzling music video for Erica Jacob's launch single "Run" around the colorful motif. It was, indeed, an amazing spectacle.
Just below: Five Pointz now... Below that, more from April. *
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