RIP 5 Pointz: Another Piece of New York City Counterculture is Gone

5 Pointz Gets White Washed In the Early Morning Hours

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–In the end, 5 Pointz was not killed by the wrecking ball, but with paint.

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After years of talks, negotiations, and legal squabbles, 5 Pointz came to an abrupt end last night as the building’s owners Jerry and David Wolcoff hired painters to come in the middle of the night to cover the ‘institute of higher burning’ in white paint. The move came days after a rally was held at the site urging supporters to assist in getting the ‘graffiti mecca’ designated landmark status.

The reaction to the move was swift. 5 Pointz founder and curator called building owner Jerry Wolcoff, ‘a coward’. Spokesperson Marie Flaguel posted a scathing note at the site saying that Wolcoff ‘committed the biggest art crime of the 21st Century’. Wolcoff told CBS New York that the painting was done overnight to avoid a confrontation and wanted to spare the artist the sight of seeing their work getting torn down.

At 5 Pointz today, there were looks of shock, disappointment, anger and even tears. Reactions spilled into the local business in the area such as The Court Square Diner, The Jackson Gourmet Deli who benefit greatly from foot traffic generated by 5 Pointz presence. The fate of The Shannon Pot, the local bar located directly on the 5 Pointz site is also uncertain.

There’s a couple of things that need to clear up here. 5 Pointz was not a rag tag group of spray painters looking for a free space. These are internationally acclaimed artists whose work has been commissioned and shown around the world. They are well paid for their work by private collectors, arts institutions and even the corporate world. They painted at 5 Pointz as a thank you to the scene that helped cultivate their careers or to showcase artists they felt could take the medium to the next level. Jonathan ‘Meres’ Cohen has and continues to work for several hundred companies. He spearheaded a group that wanted to renovate the building to code (something that the Wolcoffs have never done in the near 40 year ownership), and wanted to incorporate a plan to include an art school and a graffiti museum. They did it for the love of art and did not, under any circumstances, were they looking for a free ride.

So now 5 Pointz is gone. Gone to make way for another set of high rise apartments, a park directly under a subway train and a few more McDonald’s, Starbucks and other chains. Gone is the site of Biggie, the tiger and the 5 Pointz logo. Gone is the gorgeous site of the murals, the colors and the light as the number 7 line spins in and out of Queens.

Gone is another piece of New York City counterculture.