5 Pointz Painted White Overnight After Efforts to Keep the Graffiti Mecca Open Fail

As much as activists and artists tried, they couldn’t stop it: Famed warehouse 5Pointz is being painted over. According to 5Pointz’s official Twitter, painting began last night “with police protection.”

See also: Can New York’s “Graffiti Mecca” 5 Pointz Be Saved?

What purpose the whitewashing serves is unclear; plans for the luxury condos developers Jerry and David Wolkoff are constructing require the building to be completely razed. According to Gothamist, painting is still going on.

The buffing of 5Pointz comes after a protracted battle to keep the legendary hub for graffiti artists open after the Wolkoffs announced their intent to develop the land. The final stumbling block to the Wolkoff’s plans came last week, when a judge ruled he could not grant an injunction to stop the development.

Twitter has erupted in an outpouring of sadness over the destruction of a monument to the city’s vibrant street art community. Local businesses and tourists alike are mourning the passing of 5Pointz.

5 pointz is gone, painted white overnight by the owner ..with police protection

— 5 Pointz (@5PointzNYC) November 19, 2013

Tour guide who wanted to show #5Pointz to European tourists weeps. “I don’t understand how you can erase 12 years of history. It’s cruel.”

— Cara Buckley (@caraNYT) November 19, 2013

5 Pointz, we love you. @5PointzNYC http://t.co/lsK7p5WDrF

— The Brooklyn Brewery (@BrooklynBrewery) November 19, 2013

A last-ditch rally to stop the destruction of 5Pointz came this past weekend. The Village Voice was on scene. On the next page are some images of the rally.

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