From the NY Times:
“There is an evolution going on in that part of Long Island City; the building is old, it doesn’t warrant repairs, and no matter what, it has to come down,” Mr. Wolkoff, 74, said in a telephone interview from Long Island, where he and his son own two business parks and are attempting to develop the decaying Pilgrim State psychiatric center site in Brentwood.
“It’s time for me to put something else there,” he said of 5Pointz. “It’s a great location for young people and empty nesters who can’t afford Manhattan.” Mr. Wolkoff does not think the clatter of the No. 7 train will deter renters: “I can get you to 53rd and Fifth in 12 minutes!”
Supporters of this unlikely art temple are rallying to preserve it. An online petition called “Show Ur Love to 5Pointz” has accumulated more than 11,000 signatures and comments. The prevailing emotions: disbelief that the building will disappear and force graffiti artists back underground, and outrage that street art is again being censored.
17 comments:
Meh. Damn thing's an eyesore anyway.
Explain the difference between the crap graffiti at 80th and metro in the first article, and the crap graffitti here. They both need to go.
First they came for the longtime residents........
Rip it down and build something valuable in its place. Screw the taggers.
sounds good cept the slumlord is lying. he gets paid big money by film companies and ad companies to let them make movies and commercials at his building.
"Aerosol art". ROTFLMFAO.
Show me one example of a classic of this so-called "oeuvre".
It's a tattoo on a wall. Nothing more than illustrative scribbling.
Why you can't use the industrial building in an industrial zone you bought profitably is not our problem. Auction the building off on ebay and stop whining.
Anyone who would pay to live in a building essentially right on top of the subway needs to have their heads examined.Usually that's an apartment for people who can't afford to live anywhere else.
What a greedy asshat - trying to come off as a 'caring citizen' by providing housing to young/elderly when that spot is pretty much uninhabitable due to noise/vibration of the elevated subway on 2 sides.
Clearly, he is just using the 'affordable housing' line as a lever to knock down that building (and possibly for the tax breaks) - that spot should strictly be zoned for commercial use only.
"The new LIC" is a bust anyway. What a sick joke played on longtime residents and gullible midwestern yuppie and hipster wannabe's.
Why don't the street artist get together and buy their own property where they can showcase their work? and the 7 train is not that bad- housing can easily go there
Good tear that thing down, it's an eye sore. If these "Artists" are serious they'll purse an art career.
how can we stop the variance for a 30 sty building??? im fine with them doing what they want with the lot,but why should they get a variance. it would be nice to put up a fight for once
Nohing's going to be built there for at least 5 years until this weak economy recovers.
Jerry Walcoff is just spreading the bull around town in an attempt at pumping up the value of his real estate.
At his age, most likely, Wolcoff might croak before he ever sees his pipe dream project replace "5 Pointz".
Then his sons, Adam and David will go to Disneyland and whoop it up real good on their inheritance!
"Screw the taggers"?
There goes the usual Vallone trolls posting again.
How big's your pee-pee Don "Junior" Pietro?
Pardon George...he's a bonafide Philistine/asshole looking for some more soundbites to enhance his already over sized ego.
Art was obviously never part of his rather limited "education".
The only reason commercial slumlord Jerry Wolcoff wants to get a variance is to increase the value of his 5 Pointz property so he can scrounge up enough loan money to build at Pilgrim State.
Maybe he'll flip the property once he gets it.
In terms of the real moguls in NYC real estate....Wolcoff is jus
He has specialized in commercial property crap because he doesn't have to deal with providing much for his tenants.
If he owned residential real estate he'd have to provide adequate services to renters as guaranteed under NYC's Warrant of Habitibilty.
The man is a shady scum bag who basically made his "fortune" off his wife's family's money.
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