In July 2006 my wife and I took a trip to New York City. She had to go to Philadelphia for a few days for something job-related. I met her there when she was finished and we spent a day in Philadelphia and took a train to New York.
I had never been to either Philadelphia or New York City before, so if was neat to see the landmarks that we all see on television and in movies. When it comes to sightseeing, I am somewhat of a dud, and I never really get that excited about seeing famous stuff. We went and saw the Liberty Bell while we were in Philadelphia. I looked at it for about two seconds and I was ready to move on to better things. There had to have been at least twenty people crowded around the bell, taking pictures of it, and a few people were even filming the bell with their camcorders. Seriously folks, what are you expecting the bell to do?
When we got to New York, we got in plenty of sightseeing. We did and saw all the important stuff: the Empire State Building, Times Square, Chinatown, Little Italy, Grand Central Station, bought fake designer bags in Battery Park. Yet none of that stuff really excited me. Throughout my life I’ve always been drawn to the weird and strange things that most people I know have no interest in. But on the last day of our trip, I got to see something I personally thought was very cool.
My wife knew someone in Queens, so we were lucky enough to be able to stay with them during our vacation. Every morning we would take the number 7 train from Flushing to Times Square and do our sightseeing until it got dark. Every morning on the train we would pass this large building that was totally covered with graffiti, and a lot of it looked really cool. I had to see it up close.
I got my wish on the last day of our trip. The building itself looked like a warehouse or factory of some kind. Unfortunately I didn’t take pictures of every side of the building because the neighborhood didn’t seem the nicest and there were a few shady looking characters around. I still managed to take a ton of pictures and I’m posting some of the best ones here for your enjoyment.
Cool! So when’s your Urban Exploration trip (or at least a nice post) going to be?
Hey, you should put up my pictures of LA. They’re pretty cool too. It’s like the California they you don’t see in the movies.
5 points man. Nice spot. even though it says its all legal theres deff illegal stuff there as well. Glad to see someone who doesnt write enjoy it.
I love these pictures, thanks for sharing.
Hey, I live not too far from there - most of that work was done via a nonprofit known as “the Phun Phactory”. I don’t know if they are still around, or if they changed their name, but its nice to see their stuff is still around….
This is excellent - WOW! If more people would put a sign like that “Paint with Permission”
Check out Dolk the Stencil graffiti, I posted some on my blog. Now he just needs some permissions to paint…
http://marcozna.wordpress.com/2007/02/15/dolk-stencil-graffitti/
Thanks for sharing!
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing the pics with us.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I’m glad you all are enjoying the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!
From what I’ve gathered, the Phun Phactory was the name of the company that used to occupy the building. I believe they have since closed.
See www.thepoint.org. Out of HuntsPoint and linked to 5pointz, n’est pas?
Rex
nice pics…
Fantastic. Great photos too. Thanks for sharing with us.
amazing! who says grafitti can’t be considered art?
Wow, that’s pretty hot. I’d love to be able to work on something like that one of these days. Thanks for the pics!
great pics! way cooler than the standard tourist pics we’ve all seen 1000 times…
I’m really grateful you posted those pix. I commute in and out of the city every day and without fail, I always look up from my book or whatever I’m doing to look at that building rush by. It’s beautiful! I’ve always wished I could stop there and look at it but I know I’ll never get around to it, so all I ever see is glimpses of it at 60 mph. Now I have your photos saved on my computer and I finally know a bit of the story behind it. What an incredible place!
I ride past that everyday on the train…the 7 (above ground). It is SO cool and it’s cool to see it here.
recognized the view from walking from the 7 to P.S. 1
(also worth a look)
Yeah, the first pic was taken while I was riding the 7 train.
Marvy pics.
I liked your text too!
Spectacular stuff.
Oh shit! Is awsome! Greets from Poland : -)
Wow, I wish more buildings looked like this. Much more pleasing to the eye and soul than another cube of beige bricks.
I’ve seen this building up close - your pictures are excellent!
That’s awesome. Thanks for the pics.
Cool!!Never saw such graffity!))
Nice! I love to see this kind of grafitti!
I saw something similar in San Francisco. But this is amazing! Thanks!
It looks like shit in real life. I mean, the variety of colors is nice, but the overall presentation just looks like careless garbage.
Thanks for posting these pictures. I agree, I would rather see something unusual than the regular touristy photos.
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the photos. The concept is provacative on several levels:
___ Is this a positive option in areas suffering from urban blight?
___ Is there room for a co-operation between the building owner and the artists, over subject matter, scale, color for background etc.?
___ Has this helped the rest of the neighborhood not be a target for less-responsible artists?
___ Is this a way for the huge upkeep costs of painting a building like this one to be born by the community in exchange for creating something interesting (and hopefully uplifting and a source of community pride)?
___ Will other building owners be willing to provide their building’s canvas if safety issues and creative issues can be successfully addressed?
By showing what already exists, you have helped other stricken neighborhoods with a possible solution to building maintainance, and finding untapped sources to build cmmunity pride.
You have also exposed the need for venues for public, creative expression. Public art could hopefully go “beyond” the sanctioned work in parks and outside banks, as long as there was mutual respect involved in the project.
Best to all —
Em
http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
holy! how’d they hav time 2 do that?
really cool!
i live in nyc, that is actually an art project really, as evidenced by the notice on the door. there was a new york times article when they closed the building for painting. the inside was painted with graffiti when they closed the building. most of the graffitti is by the city’s premier graffiti artists.
I was born and raised in NYC and live and work here now. You might be interested in reading Subway Lives by Jim Dwyer. It is about NYC when subway tagging (graffiti) was big. It is an incredible book. Dwyer is also the co-author of 102 Minutes, also an incredible book about being inside the twin towers on 9/11. While NYC is much more cleaned up than depicted in Subway Lives, the whole graffiti thing is so interesting. I kinda miss the grim sometimes.
I see this building twice a day on the 7 train. I’m glad somebody stopped to appreciate it!
“white house” is the next turn.
Incredible building right in my neighborhood of Queens!
That is great! I’m from Michigan and while we do have some graffiti artists here, nothing even close to being as brilliant and unique as that building is. Outstanding!
Perfect photos… Can i use them in my blog ?
Wow!!! These are amazing pics!!! How did they tag in the middle of that building? Nice. Did you get a chance to handycam it? Did you get a chance to see other graffiti art around the city? Great pics! Just a hello from Jakarta, Indonesia.
I don’t mind as long as you reference them back to this post.
that is how we are turning into slams more and more while continue to like it and calling it an art. I personally like that truelly, but objectively this is a deviance of some sort that leads to something not so good. Thought provocative of negative decend.
whoa! Its almost ugly, its awesome!
V
Great pictures, crisp and clear!
Thanks for showing this, it IS a work of art! Your pictures are really good as well…
Cool stuff, it’s amazing some of the areas they were able to get to. I figured it must have been a legal spot because they didn’t paint over the windows like I often see.
I see it all the time on my way to work! Its amazing!
That was way cool…awlsome!
Smiels and world peace,
Shaon
http://www.BabyBoomerAdvisorClub.com
That isn’t vandilism. It’s art.
You certainly do have unique interests. You should give a shoutout to Tina and her friend for driving us all over the place to find this building.
Thanks for the comments everyone. It makes me want to go back and take more pictures!
I know that some people might not agree but I think this building is absolutely beautiful. Thanks for sharing the pics.
I love it! I think the building is awesome! Thanks so much for the great photo set.
wow..so much graffitti there.in malaysia, i can’t see yet the whole building covered with it.only some part of walls in shopping complexes have it.really enjoy ur photo..thanks
amazing shots, just amazing
Wonderful stuff. Funny to think that some people would consider this ‘vandalism’. Nice pics.
Cool post. Every neighborhood should have some kind of expression like that. If not that, something people can get involved in.
bravó. yes
That’s cool! Feels like living inside a comic book, eh?
A grafitti gank in my country gives back to the society. They went to this abandoned kindergarten in shantytown, and paint the sad-looking classroom into a wonderful work of art that makes the children smile: http://tunascendekia.org/wordpress/archives/243
This is just great
I’ve seen this from the train too, it’s very impressive! I figured someone was allowing it to be there, now i see that is true. Thanks for the pics!
Nice! You should hit up some of the spots in Philadelphia
I spent a summer in New York, all the way from Ireland, I was there to take time out and decide what to do with my life (design, art?) look at and photograph art and especially graffiti. On my second day, I got hopelessly lost and was starting to panic, I never wrote down the address where I was staying and was miles away, then suddenly here’s this building. It’s one of my best NYC memories, thanks for bringing them back.
I’ve lived in Manhattan for 6 years now, and can’t believe I haven’t heard seen or stumbled upon this brilliant building. Where exactly in Queens is it located?!
I Paint there all the time with Meres Oner, the shit is sick and fully legal……Fuck the Pigs Cops……DMB>>>>>
Holy balls, that’s awesome!
Gorjuice, dude. Thanks for posting this, I´ll be visitint ASAP!
Hey this reminds me of another Street Art project that I read about in New York on 11 Spring St. They invited several artists to come in and paint the whole building inside and out and then had a “Gallery” event for the public. Google it or check out www.globalgraphica.com/main/archives/000683.html for more info.
Thanks for the post. I love this stuff
I dislike graffiti except where it is on panels provided for the purpose. Then a work can be appreciated for being inspired, clean and cool, rather than sicko-adolescent. The building looks fussy and messy. If a restaurant served something on a plate that looked like that, all sloshed about, it would win le cordon merde or something. Cy Quick at mydigest.wordpress.com
HARDIMITZN!!!!!!!
It never ceases to amaze me.
Some people see art, while others see blight. People who see blight, are under some illusion that they live in a well ordered world. One can only believe such a myth by not looking.
As a child I was told, “this is the way it is done”. Knowing little to nothing else, I desperately wanted to believe that I now knew how it was done. But later I looked and saw others doing it, and they weren’t doing it the way I had learned. Eh?
What’s this? How could that be?
Oh?!? So there’s more than one way to do things? Why wasn’t I told that?
But, time and time again if you look, you’ll find that things just aren’t only the way you have come to think that they are. Even in mathematics you’ll find that meanings and formula change with the change in type of equation.
Albert Einstein said that there is order within disorder and disorder within order. Take that to heart and get on with appreciating what is.
[My two cents]… And I love it, it’s
really cool and I’m in NYC where I can
take pictures of it myself this summer.
Obwon
Hey, I just went over there too and took some pictures myself. Check it out: http://hahamusic.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/adams-saturday-adventure-at-5-pointz/
Dang, that is incredible.
I just got another picture from Dolk’s stencil graffiti. I think we’ll need to ask him to drop buy the Phun Phactory and do some parts…
http://marcozna.wordpress.com/2007/03/20/another-dolk-stencil-in-copenhagen/
I mean there are plenty of better pictures around but I’m posting only those I took - except for the Marathon Runner.
the house of my dreams
Great photos. I miss living in New York City, although most graffiti makes me angry. It’s not only bad for property owners, but is often downright ugly. That graffiti looked very professional. There are a lot of abandoned buildings in Queens and Brooklyn that could use a touch up. Maybe graffiti’s not such a bad thing after all.
even as stand alone photos they are colourful and nice
FOUND THE MYSPACE OF THE PRIMARY ARTIST/OWNER?
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=37199079
AND 5 POINTZ DVD TRAILER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5miIRZIBfs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fprofile%2Emyspace%2Ecom%2Findex%2Ecfm%3Ffuseaction%3Duser%2Eviewprofile%26friendid%3D37199079
Golly Gosh Mom LOOK AT WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH STOLEN PAINT AND NO TALENT.
WTF ARE THE SAYING, IT’S CERTAINLY NOT ENGLISH? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Well, then you need your eyesight checked.
Isn’t is great what the public schools have produced!!! Yup, all that money stolen and wasted
Nice Pics. I work in the R.R. yard next to those buildings and see them every day. Pretty cool.
OMG what a piece of art - I especially love the door with the rules about the permit it just makes the whole set kind of comedic but the grafitti is super cool!
Though i think they photos are very well done, the art work and building looks like trash. I am not against artwork, but this stuff is crap. I have seen some beautiful graffitti murals on buildings. This building is simply an eyesore and would be better off demolished.
Thank you for taking your time and doing what I would love to do. I live in Kansas and there is very few large pieces of art like this. You have brightened my day and I hope when I do get to NY, to visit that building. I agree, there is a lot more apeel to grafiti than the liberty bell, I have a picture of that in an old grade school text book right?
Hey, that’s a really nice place for graffiti artist like me.. Could you give us the address please
or a link to google map :p
thx
keusta
“JD Rocket Apr 4th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Though i think they photos are very well done, the art work and building looks like trash. I am not against artwork, but this stuff is crap. I have seen some beautiful graffitti murals on buildings. This building is simply an eyesore and would be better off demolished.”
hey guess what! there’s new condos opening up in williamsburg that have top-notch security and if you’re willing to displace and gentrify they’re looking for you and people like you! i promise “die yuppie scum” will never be scrawled across it like the buildings in the l.e.s. back in the seventies.
…unless you would rather live in l.i.c.? it’s not the L-train (whiter, and less reliable), it’s the 7-train (darker, yet faster for people with jobs in midtown).
This building is no random occurrence or happy accident. It is the result of one tireless work of one young man, an enormously devoted and talented artist who has managed the entire project for several years; his tag name is “meres” or “meres 1>
He is the visionary, the administrator, the curator and a major contributor among the dozens of artists who are only allowed to include their work subject to his approval.
I met and interviewed Meres a few months ago and was deeply impressed, touched in fact by his selfless and tireless dedication to this project. He is a man with a vision and this building a splendid exuberant display of tag art is a testiment to what one one person with a dream can aaccomplish.
Meres deserves much greater recognition. He has a small office in the rear of the building off the rear loading area.
With some persistence you can find him there.
it’s a soul of free
Nice pictures, the next time you’re in NYC go uptown. There is a place called the Graffiti Hall of Fame on east 106 Street and Park Ave. Some of the best work I’ve ever seen.
-* E112, Jefferson Projects, Home Sweet Home *-
The place is across from PS1 in Queens and has some artists studios among other things in it. I shared a friends studio space there and squatted there for a while at one time when I was a bit low on my luck. The toilets on the artists floor were the nastiest in NYC (think trainspotting).
That was of course before LIC became the next possible Williamsburg…oh well.
Big thanks for these
ITS BEAUTIFUL GOOD JOB ALL
Yeah! Awesome. The best part is the paint-by-permit-only picture.
In toronto between old mill and landsdowne stns there’s a few buildings with nice art on them even Midas advertising. It seems it changes all the time. I like to snap a few when going by when I remember. Going east on the right side of the train is where to sit.
I wonder how many gallons of paint were used
So cool! The one about obtaining permit is hilarious!
It’s actually in Long Island City, where I live a few blocks from this building, not Queens. Long Island City is the most unknown section of NYC and is booming right now…Check it out.
I lived in that building a long time ago. It’s a bunch of artist studios inside (and rats).
this is not art, just a big scatchbook
i am liking this very much indeed
nice to see some colour from the train
all i see is blackness because i take the tube to work everyday
cheers for the post
NTS
http://notstraight.wordpress.com/
i think it’ll be a great place to hold lePakour events at! albeit the lack of jump spots, the enviroment totally fits in with PK! =)
Pandora E.
I met a Man here in Orlando who is a world renowned artist with several public works of art, over 10,000. He is trying to get certain areas dedicated to the art so the tag artists can have a place to legally present their pieces. Hopefully, this will encourage others to fallow, artists and building owners should both be happy with this idea. This allows artists to sort of police each other instead of being supressed by the “man”. As a community we should support ideas like this and promote more open minded thinking, if we don’t then who will?
This is the kind of graffiti I don’t mind. Tagging - piss off you no talent hacks. This - come on over to my alley anytime!
I was in new york a few years ago and was on my way out to PS1 when I stumbled across this building as well. Amazing. when I went to go and investigate it turned out to be old timers day 2005. Alot of NYC Graf legends. Away cool to seem someone elses shoot and how the building has evolved.
Don’t base your whole opinion of Philadelphia on the Liberty Bell! We have lots of beautiful junk and ugly awesome stuff as well.
Paint by permit only? They must have some seriously tough security staff to enforce THAT one. In the real world, people paint what they want to paint. Thug have no respect.
Nick Kasoff
The Thug Report
WTF, Why did you not take a picture of the marvel murial? The one with galactus, spider man, etc. You should have taken a picture of that you douche.
incredible, I love it!
Unfortunately, you missed the NYC of old… Guliani fucked that city up something fierce. Times Square is a ghost town now, with mommies and daddies and little kids…
I love it. I was always a believer that “art has a frame” and I don’t think this contradicts that. By saying that art has a frame, we tend to think too literally. Having a frame only suggests that someone put it in a frame because it meant something to them and they wanted it displayed. These walls are full of that kind of art. People found things that meant something to them and displayed it (in a very large way). The fact that someone else like you found it fascinating and chose to display it yourself backs up this notion. I find it very depressing to think that the people who painted that art are highly criticized and sometimes punished. They have truly found a creative outlet and while it may not be smiled upon now, it certainly will soon enough. Just as Picasso or Van Gogh were rejected in their time, they were recognized later and are now among the most famous artists known to man. Once again, I loved what you did with those pictures.
IVE FOUND THE people who did the grafiti! I noticed the Meresone.com tag in the 5th pic.
This is the Myspace page .its a band -
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=39137526
Hi My Name Is ivapbs.
There’s a 6 story hotel near the corner of Market and Van Ness in S.F. that is filled with graffiti. The locals call it psychedelic city. It doesn’t compare to these scenes in New York but then again — everything in and from New York is usually bigger and better. Right?
Look at this one too.
http://archzine.com/index.php/architecture/paint
BEAUTIFUL. wish i lived in NY. everything in my neck of the woods is considered illegal and trashy. RockStarSyndicate’o7
Wauw!
NICE!!
I m also going to NY city!! (finally!!)
Can you tell me where i can find this building??? You’ve got my mail, it would be great to hear from you!
Greetings,Jessie
It is like an art gallery for graffiti … looks much better with the grafs on it
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article 5 Pointz in New York City at FraudWasteAbuse, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
Yessssssss Cause i live in NY and i take the 7 train to 5 pointz and I’ve met Meres the guy who owns it.
Amazing how they’ve turned that dumpy building into such a colorful and intricate work of art.
Hello your comment is stunning. I like your blog.. See ya
Just an FYI I grew up in Queens. Near those buildings in fact. It is or was owned by the NYPD (this ownership may have changed hands due to an obvious conflict of intrest. It was part of a “legal graffiti” program they set up to discourage graffiti being put up on private walls. It started a small trend of shop owners hiring artists to do some advertising style graf on their shop walls which discouraged some of the stupid tagging graffiti somewhat.
As for the buildings location it is between the Hunters Point and Vernon/ Jackson Ave stations. Hunters Point would be the much easier (1 1/2 blocks) stop to get off at to see the place up close. I don’t have the address offhand, but it is easy to find along the 7 line based on the info I posted. For anyone staying in Manhattan just get on the 7 line going to Queens. It is the first sight you see leaving the tunnels and seeing Queens.
lol was there today talkin to meres, sebs, break etc. u need a permit to paint there (which im gettin saturday woohoo!), and they dont need security. U put up ur tag, they will look out for you, see where you put up and eventually find you and snap your head. Sebs + Meres = hilarious
OH TO VISIT IT, just take the 7 train in mainstreet flushing, to 45 courtroad house, get off, and it should be across the street.
People who say “No Talent on this building” please try and do something like what they do on the wall (which is called a wildstyle/burn for thsoe of you that dont know) and then say something.
Nice)
Went to the points building a year ago and wot can i say it woz awsome, we were lucky enuff to spent the afternoon there with a group of guys called the ..olde timers..whom we shard a beer or two wiv(cheers guys), ma boyfriend is back off to N.Y tomorrow and i know 4 sure he will be paying a trip to 5pointz to take a few hundred photos and no doubt spend much of his holiday there..keep up the good work guys it really is worth a visit. U all well talented.
Does anybody how often those people change graffiti on the walls?
OE cAUSA eSTA tOO lOCAZo Hay Te DEjo Mi Hi5 o Men ENtomçCe Ya Jal0!!:sks
What up? As I’m sure you’ve guessed, my name is Jonny. I know the building that fascinated you so much. It’s somewhat famous as a matter of fact. It was actually used by Microsoft as a backround for their gen.-I Zune mp3 player. I live in a town right outside of NYC, called Garfield, in Jersey. I go around the City a lot, ‘n a lotta people know this building. I’m sure that if you ever want to go back, ask a couple people that are around the area. If you show an interest in the community, New Yorkers tend to open up a bit. The Five Points have always had problems though, so, yes tread on the side of caution. Happy Hunting, and Happy Thanksgiving. - A.K.
I read your blog hoping that you would say you discovered the mosaics in Philadelphia. I’m sorry you missed them, you would have loved them. I have some pictures but I’m sure you’ll find some online. A must for your next trip!
I am one of the people who run 5 Pointz. In one of the last post I seen on this page I read where someone said we always had problems. THATS NEWS ON ME! I am there everyday and it just keeps getting better and better. We are a very friendly bunch that are committed to providing the best experience to both the people that paint and the general public. I once read where someone said that ” there was a bunch of shady characters”. That had to be one of the funniest things I ever read! The people that paint there and bring their friends to chill with them while they paint know for a fact….DO NOT WEAR YOUR GOOD SNEAKERS, PANTS, SHIRTS, Etc. They will get PAINT on them.
Overall….5 POINTZ is a true gem of a place. 5 Pointz is worth more to the people then any 40 story building developers dream.
The landlord allows us to use his building for 5 Pointz and it is all VOLUNTEER work. He provides nothing but use of the building. We are also in need of any donations. We can use roll paint, any ladders or a monetary donation. If you wish to donate, please use one of the following contacts.
MERESONE@AOL.COM
OR
SHADOW128@RCN.COM
Please include DONATION in the subject.
Thank you and please come visit and all our problems ( Yes, I was being sarcastic )
PS: We now have T SHIRT, THERMALS for sale and we will soon have HOODIES!
If you would like more info on the clothing, please include 5 POINTZ CLOTHING in the subject.
Hope to see you there!
I’d like to know if i want to shoot some girls (for my personal use,website do i need a permit?
Soooo goddamn amazing. That’s all i can say about those pictures; glad you posted them!
I always wanted to see that building closer up. It’s my fav. Has the most character of them all. I used to pass it every day to go to work. Awesome pics. The lightbulbs always cheer me up.
WOW THEY ARE SUM SIK HEAVEN SPOTS!!!!!!!!!!!
DAT WILL BE ME 1 DAY LOL (I WISH) LLLLLLLLLLLLOLLLLLLLLLLLLL =]
Hi! I’m writing from Brazil, I have a friend who is going to spend two days in New York, I wanted her to bring some goods for me, but I’m having some difficulties in finding graffiti shops there. Do you have any suggestions of shops that have tips, markers, ink etc…?
Leonardo,
Goto SCRAPYARD. It’s located @ West Broadway & Canal Street in Manhattan.
Anthony,
5 Pointz
Who said Long Island City isn’t in Queens? Ya better look that one up. Manhattan is an island. It’s on the OTHER SIDE of the Queensboro Bridge. L.I.C is on the Queens side. Look at any map. Heck look up the history of L.I.C.
Anyone know where I can find more kid pk - pk kid artwork. Does he have a dedicated sight? Myspace? Facebook? Any help would be great, I’m trying to get a graffiti coffee table book going and need his permission….there’s a huge demand by me for his work, thanks………