Farewell, 5 Pointz - Chris "Preach" Smith

I tried not to make this a eulogy.

Part of me is still mourning the loss of 5 Pointz, The Institute 
of Higher Burning. I had just been there on a crisp, breezy
Sunday afternoon with a friend of mine. The same day as
the New York City Marathon. The memories of seeing all of
those graf pieces on the wall in the fading autumn sunlight,
seeing how many people were crowding around the perimeter.
And now, three days later, I see just how lucky I was to have
been witness to it one last time. To have seen it before the 
order was given to ‘buff’ or whitewash the entire building
under the cover of night by Jerry Wolkoff, the owner this
past Tuesday morning.

I’ve been saying it all week; the fact that Wolkoff decided
to whitewash the building is symbolic. It’s a middle finger
to everyone who fought for and supported 5 Pointz. There
are allegations that he claimed that if the petition to have
the building get landmark status had a chance to succeed
he would do it. Remove all of the artwork, and you have
nothing that makes 5 Pointz valuable. Wolkoff claimed that
he gave the go-ahead to spare people the pain of seeing
it torn down with the artwork and to avoid ‘confrontation’.
But whitewashing is symbolic. While pieces get buffed all
the time, it’s the fact that they did it SO rapidly. And they
may not have done it if they didn’t feel 5 Pointz would get
another reprieve in some form despite the judgement for
demolition. It’s another removal of something that made
this city stand out. It’s the erasure of another part of the
old New York City, telling you that those who grew up with
it aren’t welcome here anymore. (Not that mayoral terms
under Giuliani and Bloomberg’s last two terms didn’t spell
it out for the working middle class.)

Wolkoff does own the building. That is true. But I find it
a bit hard to believe that he couldn’t have found a way to
incorporate the building into future development plans.
Other cities have made it a point to do so. Washington, DC
is an example. So is Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
But here, graffiti is still seen as part of the bad old days
where gangs roamed the streets and the subways were
too dirty among other ills. City legislature would rather
have a Starbucks on every corner like London than
something more aesthically appealing than a luxury condo
building you can’t even sneeze at without a down payment
costing more than college education. He saw money coming
in to the west with other buildings sprouting up in Long
Island City and wanted a cut. So it goes. It still hurts
mainly because of the duplicity and the callous feel of it
all. Whitewashing the entire building THREE DAYS after
a ‘Save 5 Pointz’ rally? Cold. Even having five teens
getting arrested for writing ‘RIP 5 Pointz’ on the walls
seems harsh.

 
But their arrest tells me, ultimately, that 5 Pointz won’t
be forgotten. I’ve seen and had conversations with cats
that question the support from some people for 5 Pointz.
Some of those questioning are cats that used to get up.
I disagree a bit with their stance that is a mix of purism
that is clothed in naivete like a scarf but I don’t knock
how they feel. Graffiti is an art form that doesn’t get
understood without seeing all of its complexities. I do
think however that casual fans will miss 5 Pointz as
part of the New York City landscape. And that those
who may be concern trolls and posers in their ranks are
minimal. I believe that overall, 5 Pointz lasting as long
as it did was valiant and a testament to what really
makes New York City live. The grit, the creativity. I 
said that I tried not to make this a eulogy. You can’t
help but mourn. But you can strive to create something
in honor of something so vital to the city’s culture.
The best tribute I can think of at this time.