Pointz taken: Artists win $7M from wrecker
GRAFFITI pays.
A federal judge awarded 21 artists $6.7 million Monday for a developer’s decision to destroy revered works at the 5 Pointz art mecca in Long Island City, Queens.
The decision by Brooklyn Federal Judge Frederic Block covers 45 graffiti pieces that were literally whitewashed by developer Gerald Wolkoff in 2013 in the midst of the contentious case.
Wolkoff demolished 5 Pointz 10 months later and built a pair of high-rise apartment buildings on the site.“The shame of it all is that since 5 Pointz was a prominent tourist attraction, the public would undoubtedly have thronged to say its goodbyes during those 10 months and gaze at the formidable works of aerosol art for the last time,” Block wrote. “It would have been a wonderful tribute for the artists that they richly deserved.”
Wolkoff’s spur-of-the-moment decision to paint over the artwork was a move that weighed heavily against him, the judge wrote.
“If not for Wolkoff’s insolence, these damages would not have been assessed,” Block wrote.
The judge noted that the artists, in contrast with Wolkoff, “conducted themselves with dignity.”
Lawyer Eric Baum, who represented the street painters, said Block’s “landmark decision is a monumental win for the rights of all artists.
“Aerosol art is finally recognized by the courts as a world of art to be protected and not destroyed.”