Photo Credit: Barton Silverman/The New York Times
The other-worldly 5Pointz Arts Center, a tribute to urban culture that is housed at a decrepit warehouse in Long Island City, Queens, has been a legal mecca and exhibition space for graffiti artists for more than a decade. But the building’s owner has decided to raze the structure and replace it with two residential towers, a plan that has mobilized 5Pointz fans and generated an online petition, “Show Ur Love to 5Pointz,” which has collected more than 10,000 signatures.
Jerry Wolkoff, 74, has owned the Davis Street warehouse for 40 years. Although he says he likes graffiti, he said the time had come to re-purpose the building for residential use. Mr. Wolkoff has promised to include affordable studio space for artists in his blueprints, and also to devote a rear wall to graffiti.
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