5 Pointz

ATTENTION: ce site n’existe plus. Tout a été démoli. Voilà une astuce qui nous aurait été utile avant de nous casser les dents en nous y rendant…

I’m glad I got to see this before they painted over it all. It was a few huge walls of graffiti– I remember taking a bike detour there on my way to something. It was not a bad detour at all because it was very close to the bridge. Long Island City. It was also a great photo op, if you had someone with you who could take photos.
You can also see plenty of graffiti on the 7 train to Flushing.

The city is changing. Some for the better, but mostly not. This was an amazing piece of artwork that was accessible to anyone, no matter what you looked like, how much you made, and where you came from. You could stay as long as you wanted and just look at the art.
It’s now gone. So many photos of it remains and that’s what we will have when we pass what will be another vanilla condo on the 7 train.

«It’s good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.»
True to the Tony Soprano quote above, I was late to the 5 Pointz game.
Although the Queens landmark had been on my NYC Bucket List for quite some time, I only made it here recently, a mere few days before the whole building was painted white and all that beautiful street art was lost and gone forever. This wasn’t some place near and dear to my heart that I’d visit regularly. Like I said, I went here just once. And I don’t care if that makes me sounds like a tourist, but I won’t lie to you fine people. Still, for me, once was all it took to recognize what kind of institution the city’d be losing when it came time to tear the whole thing down and make way for some fancy-​ass new condos.
5 Pointz may have had its roots in graffiti, but what was on display here was in no way in the same category as random overpass tags or vandalized subway cars from the ‘70s. Without the benefit of wealthy donors or government grants, this was a world-​class art gallery, and an urban, outdoor, ever-​changing, free one, at that. It was as neatly curated as a «real» museum, with clearly defined portions of the building blocked off for specific pieces of art. It was simultaneously gritty and vibrant, inspiring and grounded. Even in its final days, artists continued to put up new works. And when I visited here, all walks of New York life were seemingly in attendance — Hispanic and Asian couples alike asked me to take their pictures, several hipster white chicks showed up with their most blog-​worthy, part-​time model poses for hired photographers, a few parents took in some last glimpses at the urban oasis while their kids traipsed around the indoor lot, two black girls got in on the Instagram action with shiny stretch pants, dunks, and deuces signs, so on and so forth. In that instant, I knew what 5 Pointz was all about — this was the People’s art gallery, a definitively New York statement, one the citizens of this city will likely never see the likes of again.
Like any big city, Gotham’s most dominant outdoor tone is gray. 5 Pointz brought the eye-​popping color palette of a Pixar film to an otherwise bleak and monochromatic exterior. I wish I was given the opportunity to visit 5 Pointz again. I wish I had taken advantage of it more while it was still around. But I’m thankful I made it here at all, even if it was just that one time, in the twilight of its life.
RIP, 5 Pointz.

A few weeks ago it was officially confirmed that the graffiti mecca known as 5Pointz would be capping its spray cans and closing up shop. The colors and creativity once seen in Long Island City have now been washed away with white paint and the ride from Manhattan to Queens via the 7 train just got a little less interesting.
Seeing what has become of this site I’m so glad I was able to visit over the summer and get to see the amazing work of these artists close up. For those of us who thrive on this kind of originality it’s truly a sad occasion…

5Pointz made NYC relevant.
Don’t know how NYC’s gonna be without it.
I hope the crews will find a new space to OWN and tag at will.
Bless up, 5Pointz.

Save 5 Pointz!
As many art fans have already heard, this monument to some of the greatest work in the world is on the brink of being torn down and redeveloped as high rise condos (
). It could be any day now — and a sad day that would be — that this street canvas to some of the planet’s most amazing artists will meet the wrecking ball.
I’ve always been a huge fan of graffiti, and especially of 5 Pointz (my Unilocal profile photo for the past 5 years was taken there!). Although I am faaar from what anyone would call artistic, I have a deep appreciation for the talent exhibited by these extraordinary individuals.
However, despite the obvious ungodly abilities of these spray can magicians, graffiti still has a stigma attached to it, as many in the general public deem it to be a nuisance. This is especially true in NYC, where this artform was born, but also where it came to symbolize in the late 70’s and 80’s a city and subway system overrun by crime and decay.
For those of us in the know, of course, it is much more than that. One of the four elements of hip hop (along with MC’ing, DJ’ing, and B-​boying), graffiti is not to be confused with tagging or gang territorial markings. Sure, there are many who claim that 5 Pointz is an eyesore, and that the land it is sitting on is much more valuable than what it is currently used for. I understand. It’s business.
In order to «legitimize» the establishment, curator Jonathan Cohen aka Meres One has been trying to turn the place into an actual art museum (the famous PS1 is right across the street), but so far to no avail. I had the opportunity to speak with him a few days ago, and he mentioned that articles like those posted above are greatly sensationalized, so there is yet hope. Although, I can say with fair certainly that the neighbor across the street would love nothing more than to give 5 Pointz the old 187.
Ultimately, If you would indeed like to pay a visit, please go soon, as there is some likelihood that 5 Pointz as we know it may forever cease to exist before a blink of an eye. My only hope is that if the inevitable does happen, the artists around the world will band together to find another equally if not more impressive spot to replace it.
5 Pointz, forever in our hearts. In the meantime, let’s all do what we can, and sign the petition (
) to keep it alive for as long as possible!
P. S. View more photos from my blog (
)