Something we never thought we’d see: LIC’s 5Pointz gets stripped

I can’t believe how much better that building looks with a new lick of paint on it.

Wait — I should be banished to nowhere’s land because I think 5Pointz looks like a dump? Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve been living in NYC my entire life and support local arts. Take a poll and you’ll find most people probably agree with me, if they are brave enough to admit it.

I love the graffiti. When peopple come to visit, it is a definite stop on my tour of the neighborhood. It’s unique, vibrant and cool.

I would rather see the 7 train be graffitied again. It would make awesome rolling murals against the bland backdrops of the LIC condo skyline. ;)

Kinda sad to lose some great pieces from classic old-school graf artists.

Funny that some of the guys with pieces on that building can now sell their work in galleries for six figures…

I like graffiti, but I do agree that the building looks nicer without it. I think it would be better if there was some master plan instead of just linear piecework thrown up as fast as possible. Some of it is stellar, but most of it is just eh…random.

My favorite artist is bansky. He’s a guerilla graffitti artist, who does work all over the world and it’s clever and usually has social commentary. It’s true that the 5 Pointz artists are a lot less …sophisticated, in my opinion. Nevertheless, I like them. Their criminal acts are lovely to me.

Grafitti is both a crime *and* art.

Graffitti is vandalism. It detracts from neighborhoods. There is nothing lovely about punks like bansky.

I am not a fan of Graffiti on unauthorized walls or mas transit but the work done on the walls of 5 -Pointz is great and it does add to the neighborhood. You might not like the art but it does take talent to pull-off murals of that size and that is worth celebrating but only if it is on a wall that the owner agreed to be used as a canvas.

19, count me among the people who likes some graffiti but not the sloppy, ugly ghetto tags. They are the painting equivalent of pissing on a wall to mark one’s territory. Any gallery worth anything screens out the best art from the crap. 5pointz should have done the same on its facade.

I think its pretty self explanitory.

#24, I don’t need any “urban credibility”-I am pretty secure about who I am, where I come from and where I am right now. Frankly, that has nothing to do with my opinion on this topic. I happen to have a degree in art history.

Listen, graffiti is not art. It is an art form. What we are talking about here is the graffiti at 5 Pointz, not the kind of stuff you are talking about. I believe you are referring to vandalism. Sometimes, it’s both, but that’s not what we are reffering to here.

Art discussion aside, IMO the building has been a dangerous firetrap and the owner has been making a bundle exploiting artists for years – a long standing NYC practice. He is now whimpering that the City has safety restrictions and he’s ludicrously claiming that he hasn’t been making money.

We need the existence of affordable artist studios here for many reasons whether or not you like the work produced. But affordability should not be at the expense of safety.

For me, 5 Pointz gives me a place to paint without having to worry about jeopardizing my freedom and taking away from me providing for my wife and son. It’s not all just kids who go and paint at 5 Pointz. It’s also older people in the 30′s, 40′s and 50′s with well paying jobs and careers. It’s so easy to hate on something that don’t interest you. Most of all, Meres and the rest of the guys down at 5 Pointz VOLUNTEER their time FOR OTHERS.

More people LOVE 5 Pointz as opposed to the ones who dislike it.