Over the Newtown Creek another battle wages against the Manhattanization of the outer boroughs – the HUGE international effort to Save 5 Pointz, an underground art institution, which makes the ride on the 7 train to Manhattan so visually appealing and so not Manhattan.
The latest news is that the owner of the property who wants to put up luxury condos in its place has a restraining order against demolition in order to preserve the artwork on the building while the lawsuit, filed by 16 international artists in order to preserve the building and artwork, ensues.
After his NY tour, Bansky’s final message in his audio guide was, “… It’s been fun. Save 5pointz. Bye”
A hearing began on November 6th with both sides discussing the future of 5 Pointz. According to NYU News, “Jonathan Cohen, the plaintiff and 5Pointz curator, seeks to have 24 specific works of art preserved. If the murals were proved to be recognized stature, the Visual Artists Rights Act would prevent them from being demolished.”
The question is – is it art? The answer may be obvious to some, but “ultimately it’s up to Judge Frederic Block to decide, who according to The Daily News, “said he would be ‘hard-pressed’ to stop the building’s owners, father and son David and Jerry Wolkoff of G & M Realty, from tearing it down.”
On 5 Pointz facebook page today, they called for an art petition of sorts, which read:
Graffiti Writers, Blackbook Rockers, and all artists around. 5 Pointz Needs your help from around the world! It’s this simple too… Please sketch up or put together a Save 5 Pointz piece. It can be in a blackbook, on a piece of paper, on a canvas, even a LEGAL wall. Please put that image on your social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc and put this in the description along with anything else you would like to say:#save5pointz @save5pointz @5pointznyc and #FightFor5Pointz. Thank you and please spread this around.