http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2014/11/5pointzprotest_web_2014_03_14_q.html
Located at at 22-44 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City, 5 Pontz (also known as the Institute of Higher Burning) and the Graffitti Mecca was whitewashed overnight on November 19, 2013. The abandoned warehouse also considered to be a landmark among many was used by internaitonal graffitti artists to create work ranging up to 200,000-square-feet, and simultaneously featured 350 murals. Another factor that makes 5 Pointz important is the fact that it once housed Crane Street Studios: utilized by 200 artists and costing less than the average market prices for studio space. in 2009 it was estimated that a 450 square foot studio cost $600 in rent. Originally founded in 1993 by Pat DiLillo, through a program called Graffitti Terminators, with a mission of providing street artists with a formally display their art work: some important artists who have featured their work at 5 Pointz have been Stay High 149, Cope2, Part, TAT CRU, and SPE. It is interesting to note that the name of 5 Pointz is symbolic of artists from each of the 5 boroughs merging together to create art, however 5 Pointz has been fortunate to feature international artists from Japan, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Canada. Sadly, the New York City Planning Commission took a unanimous vote to consent to building condos where 5Pointz now stands. David Walker, the developer of this project is planning to demolish the building entirely. This $400 million plan was approved in October by the New York City Council in order for a the creation of 1,000 apartments and 210 housing untis, although ground level facades will still be used by curated artists. The art communtiy has been enraged since the whitewashing of 5Pointz and in a bold statement of retaliation artists from Brooklyn known as gilf! and BAMN (By any means necessary) hung a yellow caution tape banner across the building on which reads “Gentrification in Progress”. Unfortunately the banner was removed Monday, but it has been nice to see some artists taking the initiation to retaliate. I was lucky enough to visit 5 Pointz several weeks before the whitewashing, and would like to share with you some of the amazing art wor that was on display. I hope that a stronger petition will emerge, and I hope that New York will not lose such a beloved landmark, influential both for its art work and its history and culture.
In an article titled “Brooklyn Gentrification: Spike Lee Has Right Message, But Is The Wrong Messenger“, Palash Ghosh reacts to film director Spike Lee’s profanity-ridden rant on the gentrification of his native neighborhood of Brooklyn. The basis of Lee’s argument is that he grew up at a time when the neighborhood of Fort Greene in Brooklyn was made up of mostly minority groups and lacked good facilities and services. As of late, there has been a huge growth(29.6% from 2000-2010) in the number of middle and upper – class white New Yorkers moving into these previously poor areas. Lee is angered that it took an influx of young, rich people into these places to bring about better policing, sanitation, and schooling.
In his article, Ghosh describes the 70s: “the era of near-bankruptcy, rising violent crime, white flight, a heroin epidemic and relentless danger lurking around every corner.” He remembers the “the grim, decaying neighborhoods replete with garbage-strewn lots, bodegas, liquor stores, check-cashing joints, etc.” of Brooklyn in the 90s. But he also says that it is the deprivation, desolation and violence of NYC neighborhoods that brought about great artists and movements from that time such as the Ramones and the hip-hop movement. Ghosh sees Lee as a hypocrite, saying that Lee has made contributions to these changes in by popularizing Brooklyn in the his films and cashing out on it. Now that these neighborhoods are cleaned-up and more orderly, there is no longer an “edgy” vibe to these places, but they are safer and less dangerous. Ghogh poses his ultimate question about gentrification which is whether we would prefer neighborhoods to be crime-ridden and cheap but interesting and eccentric, or neighborhoods that are rich, dull, and filled with consumerism. However, it isn’t as black-and-white as Ghosh makes it out to be. The biggest issue that I see with the latter option is that the working-class people who live in these neighborhoods are forced out of their homes by landlords, often through unlawful methods, and there is less affordable housing when these places are gentrified. Things may be better for the newcomers, but many of the people who lived there previously do not always benefit in these situations.
