http://modernspacesnyc.com
Apr 20 2009

Long Island City’s Crane Street Studios inside 5pointz still closed; misc linkage

5pointz artists create mural for artist injured in stairwell collapse, LIC –photo

“Called Crane Street Studios, and named for an abutting street (5 Pointz only refers to the outer walls), they were thrust into a minor spotlight this month after one of their artists, Nicole Gagne, a 37-year-old jeweler, was seriously injured when part of a concrete fire escape she was descending collapsed.

The city’s Buildings Department ordered the largest of the buildings that make up the studios closed and issued a host of violations including unsafe conditions and putting up partitions to create the studios without a proper permit. The complex’s owner, Jerry Wolkoff, said he was heartsick about the stairs’ collapse, and had used them often himself.

Ms. Gagne, a cherished member of Crane Street’s artist community, helped organize open studio walks there. She remained in Bellevue Hospital Center, where she was listed in serious condition on Saturday. Especially devastating, the artists say, was the feeling that the complex had hurt one of their own.

Crane Street’s artists describe their beehive of studios as a unique community: something affordable, where newer artists can hone their wares alongside, and with the help of, seasoned and established craftspeople, in a complex dripping with imagination, all within sight of Manhattan’s skyline.”

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