5pointz stairwell collapse severely injures woman; building neglect cited
The stairwell that collapsed on Friday at 5pointz, Long Island City
“Nicole Gagne, an artist trained at Parsons The New School for Design, was leaving the art studio in Long Island City about 5:15 p.m. when the staircase suddenly gave way. Passersby and emergency workers pulled the Vermont native from the rubble.
The artist is employed by Leoworks and her art is generally sold in boutiques. Gagne has donated a portion of her profits to benefit women in India and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The preliminary investigation revealed the collapse was caused by neglect and failure to maintain the building,” said Carly Sullivan, a Buildings Department spokeswoman. The Buildings Department cited the owner, G&M Realty, five times last year for illegally converting the factory to artist studios, records show. G&M Realty, of Edgewood, N.Y., is owned by developer Gerald Wolkoff and his family.”
This really sucks. There are going to be a lot of displaced artists if they shut down 5 pointz, all because the owner neglected the building for so long. What a tragedy!
Gee, looking at that building, I’d never guess it was neglected.
He neglected the building for so long is the reason artists could live there…he didn’t give a shit about it, so let anyone live there.
Let’s hope Plaxall takes heed of this tragedy to get their buildings in shape!
Nicole is still alive but does anyone have news of her condition.? I can’t possibly relive what she has been through….but I know how it creeped me out to go up those stairs. Truly tragic. Well the 60,000.00 a month the owner was raking in….will go towards a settlement I suppose. But can never make good if she has lost her capabilities to live a normal live. Truly tragic.
I don’t think anyone lives there…they are all working studios, people run their businesses out of there, it would just be a tragedy to displace all of those people. It is hard these days to find a decent space to work in!
Plaxall just wants to tear the whole thing down and build more condos right??
What Plaxall building are we talking about? I’m afraid owners are just going to take the message from this that you are better off not renting old space cheaply to artists. It is better to knock these buildings down right away. I’m not sure this would be a good thing. Death traps would not be a good thing either, obviously, but it would be nice to keep something in between.
I agree, I hope the building isn’t torn down…but wasn’t that their plan in a couple of years? That would be a horrible thing to happen. I think they should preserve the integrity of the building and just make the proper repairs to make it safe. It should’ve been maintained all of these years by it’s current owner. Obviously the owner was just ok with taking everybody’s money without being a responsible landlord. I heard that a lot of the spaces don’t even have heat in them, that’s pure neglect! It’s time scumlords stop taking advantage of people like that!
9, I think you described the thousands of slumlords all over New York City and the crumbling buildings they own. There’s nothing unusual about 5pointz. There will no doubt be someone else seriously hurt or killed someplace else.
i was speaking of all scumlords…it’s sad that’s all. And it would be a shame to see 5 points go because someone felt like being lazy and not maintain their building.
Apparently that building was being rented as studios illegally and never zoned for such use. The buildings department kept citing the owner with violations for this… so how was it allowed to continue?
The owner illegally compartmentalized the building with partition walls, to get more studios and renters, something thats been going on in this city for 150 years no matter what laws are made against it. There were constant violation notices by the buildings dept but the landlord was an absentee and never opened doors for them or contacted them back.
This woman’s injury no matter how horrible, saved 30 lives by bringing this place into public light where hopefully its problems will be rectified or the place will be demolished. I dont want to see anyone be put out in the street but I also dont want to see dead civilians and dead firemen due to illegal renovations.
We’ve had enough of that.
“rumor” has it that this landlord is “in” with bloomberg’s cronies and land developers that’ve been raping the rest of LIC.
#11, in the grand scheme of NYC, < 1% of the population cares about 5pointz. This will shut down, and the artists will be displaced/screwed. It is very common for artists to take space without heat, proper safety etc, because there is NOWHERE else to have an affordable space. Artists are not respected in NYC, by the city or the developers – though they are integral to the fabric of this great city’s culture (and history) and should be placed on the Endangered Species list.
The picture is kind of eerie now… I’ve been on those stairs myself… what a gamble.
I’m with you #14. it’s ridiculous the way artists are treated in this city. That’s why I plan on moving back to Philly, at least there you can have a great community of artists and have affordable prices!
The Plaxall families do not own the Phun factory building. They own some property over that way…but intended to construct new artist live/work space.
But the city wouldn’t allow it as a give back for more FAR.
If it were easier for artists to live and work in NYC, we’d have crappier art like Phillly. The struggle is part of what makes the art good. Happy and content artists are BORING.
Having said that, 5 Ptz is a deathtrap. Went in there once for an open studios year ago, and feared the thing was going to collapse under my feet. But there are decent, solidly-constructed art studios in LIC that are affordable (like the Juvenal Reis studios), so I’m not sure what everyone’s whining about.
#18, the Reis Studios are not affordable. Their prices begin at $480 for a crappy, small box with no window.
I think you artist need a reality check. you guys get more from this city than anyone else. LIC is full of art studios and loft buildings for the arts.
A typical example is P.S. 1. When that school was closed we were bused to various schools in Astoria and Sunnyside because the City did not have funds for the much needed building repairs. There was no money for our education, however, monies were found to renovate the building for the benefit of the arts.
Endangered Species? That’s a joke.
its a sad story, climbed those stairs myself too, and enjoyed some great views of the city on a makeshift teenage date way before the whole real estate boom in lic. for some reason i always hoped the place would get renovated, and stay a haven for graffiti artists to display their work on the exterior so i can live in a condo on the inside and tell everyone i live in the graffiti building…. there goes my dreams. but poor girl, it’s a miracle that nobody was actually on the stairs at the time.
i think she was on the stairs.
So #20, a reality check could be like falling two floors with concrete? Artists have it so easy. Yeah, right, *
“…you guys get more from this city than anyone else…”
Um…HOW exactly? I’d love to see the numbers on this claim; something more substantial than your own bitter anecdotal example.
Funding for all kinds of artists (from small, independent 99 seat-and-under theatre companies to the Met Opera) is very much on the decline in this city, and will continue spiraling downwards due to the shrinkage of the tax base, decline in contributions from corporations and individuals, etc. The arts get hit first and hard anytime there’s an economic downturn, and, in case you haven’t heard about it, but there’s Recession, probable Depression, afoot.
“…there’s A Recession…afoot.” My bad.
Oh, poor pitiful artists. If you can’t afford $480 a month for a studio that’s not going to kill you, then SUCK IT UP AND GET A REAL JOB or move into a deathtrap in the Bronx that you can afford. No one owes it to you to give you lovely, high-quality, safe and affordable studio space minutes from midtown Manhattan so you can craft your performance art pieces that will only be seen by the other artists in your loft and your 20 friends on facebook.
This is NYC. It’s a f’ing tough city to live in. It’s not cheap, it’s never been cheap. If your art is good and you find an audience for it that will support it and support your studio process, then good for you. If it’s not, then head down to Philly where you won’t tap out your trust fund so quickly…
#20, PS1 would be gone if it weren’t for the residents of this community who rallied to have that building saved. I’m not sure…but I think we are talking 25-30 years ago. It was slated for demolition. So your theory is much skewed. So little has been preserved in Queens. As a resident I could go there for free. I just don’t go to often because the original scene was far more enjoyable than it is now. However I still am grateful that there are artists as well the fact that the architecture of PS1 was preserved. If we didn’t have bloodhound artists, were would developers look to for their next conquest?
I really would like to know what artists get? Your example is non evident.
There is a sad misconception that artists are somehow getting all kinds of funding and that they are a drain on society, lazy, etc.
1. Corporate plums and now bailouts, developer incentives, shilling for baseball stadiums, Olympics, exclusive no-bid contracts, military waste, etc, etc is where a substantial amount of your tax dollar goes. A microscopic percentage goes to cultural institutions such as PBS and a microscopic amount of that goes to art organizations and then a microscopic percentage to the arts.
2. Many artists work by far more hours than construction workers, wall street types, etc. And they purchase goods locally and patronize local businesses.
3. Almost everything you own and buy has had an artist’s hand or mind somewhere along the way. Or would you prefer a completely bland prison like existence with nothing unique or attractive?
4. Artists historically pioneered almost every neighborhood in the Metro area that no one wanted to touch and which now everyone lusts after. Yet they are always the first to be pushed out by more powerful forces.
So please, find something more productive than bashing artists.
Throughout history, people living in societies in decline have been contemptuous of artists. Now it’s New York City’s turn. It should come as no surprise that some angry, ignoramus wingnut or corporate welfare drone spouts venom about the supposed privileges artists enjoy. At least they haven’t started rounding you up and throwing you in prison, yet. Until then, there’s always the Bronx.
Meanwhile, #20, someone’s in the hospital with serious injuries (and could have died), you soulless ant. Nice time to vent your distorted views on cultural re-engineering.
#20, how about some true history…
By the late 1950’s the building was in disrepair and local enrollment at PS 1 severely dropped off. 75% of the students were being bused in from Queensbridge houses with accompanying strained race relations. In the early 60’s the building was evacuated for structural issues and closed.
The City stabilized the building over the next 10 years but due to a lack of adequate enrollment used it as a warehouse for City records for a short period. The City planned to auction the property at which time the Institute for Art and Resources proposed it’s new use and raised $250k start up money.
PS 1 has always stirred controversy among locals and even artists (myself included) but the fact is it’s remarkable how they have grown to be a world class institution surviving now three decades. For good or bad they have been a major focal point for this neighborhood and hence its new economy. Show me a developer’s brochure that does not include a reference to PS 1/Moma.
This is yet again an example of the arts contributing to the growth of a neighborhood and its economy.
Wow, #20 and 26, how hateful you sound. Everyone around here is just trying to make it, one way or the other, and that goes for people who are struggling to make the payments on their expensive condos, those trying to preserve their long time homes against development, and artists who have chosen to make their art and bult up studios here. Why not have a little more sense of community here, in the end we’re not all that different, we’re all just trying to survive on way or the other and have chosen to do it here in Long Island City.
Artists don’t ‘pioneer’ areas, they go where it’s cheap and no one else wants to live.
My prediction, the next hot spot will be Jamaica or Bushwick or Bed Sty. There are artists there now, but it’s too dangerous for Midwestern trust fund artists to live, so those stay in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
I agree with Townie in that instead of back and forth bashing, most of the posting should’ve been directed at building safety, other examples similar to this one, concern for the injured lady, and other related concerns. Why does virtually every thread have to turn unruly. Can’t people just post without the bullshit?
Charlie.
So much hate on this blog…I’m with #32, we are all just trying to make a living and make our dreams happen one way or another. And #26, I work full time and I’m an artist, and I still can’t afford a separate studio along with my rent, but I make due. $480 for a 10X10 shoe box with no heat is just out of control, I think that’s what people are complaining about. But I guess that’s the price you pay if you want to live in NYC. I love how there are so many misconceptions about artists, as if we don’t work and have real jobs. I wish people like #20 and #26 would get their heads out of their asses already. What happened to community and having an appreciation for your neighbor?
My wishes are with Nicole Gagne and her family, I hope she gets better and can continue making her beautiful jewelry.
Its all good … a BEER GARDEN is coming!
http://nymag.com/daily/food/2009/04/beer_garden_will_open_in_long.html
maybe that will lighten some people up! Sounds like fun!
# 26 (who’s probably # 18 as well): You’ve described artists as a bunch of over privileged, whining, rich kids. It’s true there are plenty of those, but there are also many sincere, dedicated artists who have “real” jobs (e.g., at an office 40+ hrs. per week) and don’t have any outside support. After paying for bills, food, transportation, and the rent for one’s apartment, there’s very little money left (never mind the few hours left to actually do artwork). And that amount is certainly not enough to rent an over aggrandized studio space for $480 each month (many studios are actually much more costly). It actually leaves barely any money to buy art supplies. It seems that most of the people who can afford to rent studio spaces are people who have trust funds or some kind of outside support. And you clearly do not like their work. So, why are you telling poor artists to move to Philadelphia? Maybe you’d like their work?!
I think the consensus is#18, #20 and #26 have been tarred and feathered through their bilious conceptions.
What ever happened to respect, intellect and debate? Why is it so clearly absent in society?
Get well Nicole!
Please, I did not describe *all* artists as over privileged, whining rich kids. Just the ones who complain about the price of studio rentals in LIC as if they’re *owed* cheaper, safe, clean, light studio space only minutes from Manhattan. As with all things in life, if you want the convenience, you have to pay for it. There are PLENTY of cheap studios and tons of empty industrial buildings in many other parts of the country. Move to Detroit and squat a building. It’s WAY cheaper than NYC!
As an artist and art lover, I have been to all the open studios in the neighborhood for years. There are some tremendous artists working out of LIC, some with national exposure. But every time I’ve been in 5Ptz, the quality of art has matched the quality of the building and the price of the rents. If that’s all you can afford as an artist, you’re better off painting out of your apartment, or painting en plein air…
“My prediction, the next hot spot will be … Bushwick or Bed Sty. There are artists there now, but it’s too dangerous for Midwestern trust fund artists to live, so those stay in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.”
Huh??? Do you know anything about anything? Are you old or something?
Most people with “trust funds” are from the East Coast, first of all. Most people moving here from the Midwest are middle-class.
Bushwick/East Williamsburg is already the current cultural arts-music hub/”hotspot”, and tons going on in Bed-Stuy. And yeah a lot of the people living there are from the Midwest. Most artists/Midwesterners cannot afford Williamsburg because rich east coast kids and NYU students and condo people have jacked up the rents.
You also mentioned Jamaica… well, that’s a bit far-away for most.
#40, I beg to differ that everybody in 5Pointz is shlocky. Here is an example of just one artist in 5Pointz. He was commissioned by the Fire Department of New York to do their 9-11 commemorative project–among other projects and exhibitions. I don’t think that’s too shabby, and I don’t think he’s the only one. http://www.kotlerstudio.com/projects/project_911.html
Read a blog from a neighborhood that has a thriving grassroots art culture and minimal condo investor types and see how the other half lives:
40, so you’re “an art lover” but you wouldn’t mind shipping out all the artists who can’t afford NYC to Detroit?
#40, you mentioned that you’re an artist and art lover. Do you also happened to be an owner of one of the LIC buildings that rents artist studios??? I wonder.
#43 I fail to see how one schizophrenic man having, a horrid run in with police, where all parties lose, is an indication of a neighborhood?
33 says “Artists don’t ‘pioneer’ areas, they go where it’s cheap and no one else wants to live.”
Apparently 33 is clueless as to what it means to pioneer. I guess he/she thinks moving into East Coast before the planters are done is “pioneering”. Artists rented previously empty storefronts and factory spaces and some even bought decaying homes that they proceeded to fix up. The areas became more pleasant and safer. And they generally have been able to fit in with the existing residents and businesses – something that many of the new young guns seem unable or unwilling to do.
And the history of artists “pioneering” neighborhoods is also rife with those same artists getting priced out of the neighborhoods once it turns around. How many struck it rich on SoHo real estate? Chelsea?
It’s all a cycle. I’m not really crying for the arts in NYC. As long as there’s money in NYC the galleries and museums will be here. No one showing and selling art is moving to Philly, just the folks making it.
Truthfully, it’s probably *better* for the rest of the country that the intelligent, liberal, creative types don’t all up and leave and move to NYC. The red states need art too…
Are there any teabagging protests in LIC today?
Probably down by the condos on the water.
did some one said “Juvenal Reis”
he is a shark with very VERY sharp fangs
watchaout!
so…if your into the art, then you should be in the knowing of the hazards of our playground…falling is apart of the art…but! if you were there for some other reason..then sue the shit out of the owner’s…i feel your pain…but that’s just me..
Back to the issue at hand.
First, WE should all be praying for Nicole’s recovery. I wake up and the first thing I think about is her well being and its also the last thing I think about before heading to bed. Our hearts are with her and her family.
5 Pointz is a GREAT organization. They have given opportunities for THOUSANDS of aerosol artists, both local and worldwide. We have all noticed the neighborhood changing throughout the last several years. WOW… WHAT A MISTAKE. Long Island City was alway known as a industrial section and most of the condo’s they’ve built still have MANY available units in them. And to think, the city says, ” there is a graffiti problem”. Well, I got news for you. You haven’t even begun to see a graffiti problem. When there is no legal place to paint, don’t think for one second that people are gonna just up and quit painting. Congratulations! You have a SERIOUS problem now, especially with all those nice buildings around. They will still flock to that block because of the AMAZING HISTORY that it represents. But 5 Pointz is much more then just a legal place for aerosol artists to paint. It has structured a community that spans across the globe. It also can be very helpful to the artists on the inside of the building for networking. You never know just who you will bump into just walking around. There is no place in the WORLD like 5 Pointz. This is truely a 1 of a kind type of place. There is a much bigger picture then “you” and “I” here.
Again, we are all with you Nicole!
Also, one other thing, If Mayor Bloomberg can change the law to his favor, because we all know that in someway, shape or fashion, this 3rd term BS is protecting his investments and making him alot of $……. Thanks for giving the incentive of bending the rules to all the other mega wealthy business people. Lead by Example!
53, do you realize how absurd you sound? Are you suggesting that “aerosol artists” lack any self control and sense of what’s right and will simply turn to crime and vandalize the neighborhood because they won’t have 5Pointz anymore? Are you really such a bunch of childish babies? What a disappointment! I would think that that poor woman would be ashamed to be associated with the likes of hooligans like you.
#51, I think you went a little too far in your characterization of Juvenal Reis, the owner of the Juvenal Reis Studios. I do, however, think it would be completely fair to criticize his prices. They’re just too high, and if he doesn’t adjust them, those metaphorical fangs of which you speak will come around and bite himself in the ass. (Especially now that we’re in a recession.)
For those that are wondering about Nicole – she is a fighting the fight. Without giving details, she is making progress and all your healing energies from around the country and the world are helping. It is pretty miraculous. Thanks.
Thank you #56, some of us have actually been wondering about her. Please keep us updated!
#54 aerosol artists are not uncontrollable, we just don’t recognize the same boundaries as you do. #53’s point is that now there is a huge population of artists that had a legal outlet, and now don’t. Couple that with the local explosion of unwanted visual pollution known as Glassy Towers, it seems fair that if they can pollute our world, we can pollute theirs. And LIC is very familiar with pollution in general. So it should be no big deal.
And just so you yuppies know, it’s nothing personal. We are just here too, and we want to see things in our environment that reflect us…if they are not there already, why then we must put them there. Sorry if that is your condo building, but it’s blocking my view of the sun. t-a-g-i-t
#’s 53 & 57 exhibit views which are not unlike those of extremists, and therefore should be seen in a similar light, with the appropriate caution and/or action tended.
This “my way is the right way” mentality, is always a problem. It’s kind of like the far right and far left wingers.
Charlie.
thanks liqcity for doing your part to legitimize and promote low-class thugs and vandals who have used your blog to openly advocate committing property crime. If I were a graffiti — oops, I mean aerosol — “artist,” I would be very careful to use the term visual pollution to refer to the mostly positive changes going on in LIC. Then again, I guess they’ve lost a few too many brain cells from the paint fumes to think clearly, if they ever did (fetal alcohol syndrome, anyone?). What a shame the whole bunch of them weren’t on that fire escape instead of Nicole.
yes this blog often condones criminal behavior. liqcity what is the matter with you!?
#59, shame on you…it would’ve been nice if nobody was on those stairs. And it’s not property crime if the building allows the art to take place on their walls. Get over yourself already.
When’s Dutch Kills opening?
No. 61, Shame on me? Get over myself? How could any sensible person who cares about the neighborhood agree with 57? Maybe you have been sniffing a few too many paint cans yourself.
“I would be very careful to use the term visual pollution to refer to the mostly positive changes going on in LIC. ”
Saying something is “positive” is just as value-laden as saying it is “visual pollution,” Mac.
Art is supposed to improve our surroundings, not make our surroundings look shoddier. The guys at “5Pointz” are vandals, not artists. Local organizations like “Sunnyside United Neighborhood Network” and “Woodside on the Move” have been at conflict with these vandals for years. Now that their building is shut down, please help to keep “Meres’ and his cronies from returning to our neighborhood!
Send tips, feedback, and death threats to info [at] liqcity [dot] com
Well that’s the end of 5pointz. And the studios inside. The owners are in serious trouble I’m sure.