Appeals court approves of $6.7M award to graffiti artists

A federal appeals court in New York gave its approval to a $6.7 million award for two dozen graffiti artists whose spray paintings at a once-famous site that attracted thousands of spectators were destroyed to make room for high-rise luxury residences.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that a judge was correct to award the damages against developers who destroyed the aerosol artwork in 2013. The appeals court said the action violated the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, which protects art which has gained recognition.

The Long Island City, Queens, graffiti site known as 5Pointz was a tourist attraction that drew thousands of spectators daily and formed a backdrop to the 2013 movie, “Now You See Me.” It was also a site for an Usher tour. Many of the art works were temporary.

“In recent years, ‘street art,’ much of which is ‘temporary,’ has emerged as a major category of contemporary art,” the 2nd Circuit said in an opinion written by Circuit Judge Barrington D. Parker.

New book imprint will highlight popular podcast

A new book publishing imprint will be a platform for the podcasts of iHeart Radio.

The imprint is called Stuff You Should Read: An iHeartBook, and is a partnership with Flatiron Books. The first release is scheduled for Sept. 29. It’s called “Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things,” and will be written by “Stuff You Should Know” podcast hosts Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant.

“With this book,” Flatiron announced, “Josh and Chuck have taken their near-boundless curiosity from earbuds to the printed page to answer all the questions readers didn’t know they wanted to ask, from the origin of Murphy beds, to the history of facial hair, to the psychology of being lost.”