5Pointz

I was reading Graffiti New York last week while in between books. I received the art book at Christmas because I love creative graffiti. The book has a chapter named the Five Boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and State Island.

While I was on a page about Queens, it had a photo of 5Pointz. I've heard about it and seen it on TV only recently. 5Pointz is an outdoor space where graffiti artists can legally paint on the walls of a factory building. Artists from all around the world come to Queens to paint on the walls.

In October, I will be running a 50 mile race in Pennsylvania. My husband and I are planning to travel to New Jersey after the race to visit his uncle. While in New Jersey, we usually take the train to New York City to visit. I figured while visiting the area, we could make a stop at 5Pointz. The last time we visited NYC, I only took photos of graffiti while we were riding tour buses. Tour buses do not stop. There was so much graffiti that I wanted to get closer to and photograph.

When I was looking up information about 5Pointz online, I came across an New York Times article about it. The building owner, that the artists paint on, decided to raze the structure and replace it with two residential towers. According to an article from The Guardian, 5Pointz is unlikely to continue far beyond 2013. Good thing we are going to New York this fall. I will be able to see all of the graffiti before the buildings are torn down.

Photo Credit: wikipedia.org