The Queens graffiti mecca 5 Pointz was whitewashed last year to make way for a high-end condo building. A lot of people, many of whom had tried to get the building landmarked, were upset.
Among them were artists gilf! and BAMN (By Any Means Necessary), who on Saturday draped a giant "GENTRIFICATION IN PROGRESS" banner across the Jackson Avenue side of the 5 Pointz building.
13 comments:
Long Island City was gentrified years ago, this is nothing new. It is a little too late on his one.
That is a beautiful building!
Fuck the developers, but also fuck 5Pointz and its criminal supporters.
Make it a park instead.
I am not sure where is the debate here. The building is not the property of the "graffiti artists" . These "artists" have all the rights to "graff" their own property. End of story. I am happy that 5 Pointz misery is gone.
Yeah, make it a park so all of the Chi-Chi hipsters have a place to walk their cure little dogs while not picking up after them.
Not sure why anyone thinks this represents a "debate" about the developers vs. artists. This is a protest against gentrification.
In my book gentrification is when groups of upwardly mobile people move into a neighborhood that is a bit down on it's luck but has potentially beautiful old housing that can be re-habbed into great living space. This happened in the Village, So-Ho, Chelsea, Park Slope, Williamsburg. etc.
What's happening with 5-pointz is development. The owners are putting the wrecking ball to the old factory/warehouse and replacing it with a housing project for the hipsters who think it's a cool place to reside.
But what they are missing is what attracted them to the area is disappearing with the onslaught of development.
Same thing happened and is happening in the neighborhoods I mentioned above.
Many old beautiful houses and industrial buildings are being jettisoned so that developers can build high rise crap for the rush of new tenants and make a fortune in the process. And this is not gentrification but development.
What is meant by "landmarking" 45 Davis Street? Restoring it to its appearance as the Neptune Meter Company?
Well for years, we were told that LIC was an industrial wasteland, when in fact it was a working class neighborhood. So in my book, these luxury high-rises represent gentrification.
Gentrification is a rhetorical term characterizing the rescue of a declining area by an influx of capital as a bad thing. The alternative, restricting any interference with the decay of buildings and the continued diminishment of property values (which only accelerates the decay)is not worthy of mentioning, because most people who complain about gentrification can't or won't think their position through to its logical conclusion.
Gentrification was forced in this instance by out-of-context rezone. I guess the gentrification defenders can't or won't think their position through to its logical conclusion, which is a strained infrastructure and critical mass.
Gentrification was forced in this instance by out-of-context rezone. I guess the gentrification defenders can't or won't think their position through to its logical conclusion, which is a strained infrastructure and critical mass.
they need to get more yellow tape for forest hills,rego park,jackson heights and elmhurst.
these developers and city planners are delusional to think they are making improvements and raising property values.because no one is going to afford to live here anymore and what will be left are the desperate who will resort to any means to feed themselves,which will include mugging.the bad old days will return with a vengeance and extreme prejudice against the obscenely wealthy and the oblivious hipsters.
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