In advance of its demolition to make way for a luxury condominium development, the abandoned brick warehouse turned world-renowned street art canvas known as 5Pointz was given a new coat of white paint overnight, shrouding its celebrated graffiti.
"By Tuesday morning, the work of some 1,500 artists had been wiped clean," report Marc Santora and Cara Buckley, "the Brobdingnagian bubble letters and the colorful cartoons spray painted on the building’s brick walls all covered in a fresh coat of white paint."
Though the demolition of 5Pointz had been planned for years, the covert whitewashing of the building's graffiti came as a shock and surprise to street art enthusiasts and neighbors of the Long Island City landmark.
“'I don’t know how you can erase 12 years of spectacular art,' said Hans Von Rittern, a guide who arrived with a busload of tourists, only to find the building’s art gone. 'It’s cruel.'”
FULL STORY: 5Pointz, a Graffiti Mecca in Queens, Is Wiped Clean Overnight
Graffiti Wins Protected Legal Status in New York
A landmark judgement potentially paves the way for graffiti to be protected under the Visual Artists Rights Act.
Where Will the Street Artists Go?
Thanks to the rising tide of redevelopment, New York's legal graffiti walls are disappearing. But the art form's pioneers rarely asked for permission to practice their art. Might the city see a return to the anarchic environment of the 1980s?
A Piece of New York's Cultural History Prepares for the Wrecking Ball
Karen McVeigh reports on 5Pointz in Long Island City, a public mecca for hip hop and graffiti artists, and its uncertain future.
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
Car Noise Is Killing Us
It’s not just traffic collisions that kill—a new study from researcher at Rutgers finds that the loud noises emanating from cars has direct impact on heart health in Americans.
Acceptable Deaths
What can we learn from our Covid response?
New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.
Fare-Free Transit Hasn’t Reduced Car Trips, Data Says
Fare-free transit isn’t the climate change benefit that many have hoped, according to recent writing by David Zipper for Bloomberg.
Redevelopment Threatens Iconic, Affordable Chicago Homes
The ‘workers’ cottages’ are being replaced with larger, more expensive homes, threatening one of the city’s original forms of affordable housing.
City of Malibu
EMC Planning Group Inc.
Jefferson Parish
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
City of Lakeway, Texas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
