Beloved legal graffiti haven 5 Pointz is almost completely destroyed. The man responsible for its destruction now wants to pay tribute by naming his new condo units after the complex reports DNAinfo.
Developer Jerry Wolkoff tried to trademark the name back in March, but that application was rejected because it was too similar to another trademark that’s already registered. He has six months to respond to that decision.
While Wolkoff has owned the property for decades, it was curator and graffiti artist MERES One who gave it the name back in 2002. Before that it was referred to as the Phun Factory. For his part, MERES is resigned to the future and succinct with his feelings. “The disrespect continues, I suppose,” he said.
ANIMAL was just at the construction site this morning and shot photos of the site (check out the gallery above), which is currently sitting in ruins. The entire building is almost gone now, which is kind of a relief after the whitewashing of the building pre-demolition. Marie Cecile Flageul, a spokeswoman for 5 Pointz artists, isn’t too thrilled with Wolkoff’s brazen renaming attempt, either.
“It’s ironic that the same corporation which single-handedly destroyed all the artwork known as 5 Pointz is trying to capitalize on its name,” said Flageul to DNAInfo.
(Photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)
