In June 2007 I had the opportunity to travel to New York City, one of my
top picks for places to see. I was dancing at Fascination Dance Studio in
Thorold, ON at the time and my competitive ballet team had qualified to compete
at the World Dance Championships. Before leaving for my trip I thought, 'Hey,
NYC is home to hip hop.' It was after googling something along the lines of
'graffiti places in NYC' I came across a legal outdoor gallery called 5 Pointz.
I somehow convinced my friends and my mom to take the NYC subway and travel to
the Queens neighbourhood of Long Island City (not having any real clue of how
to get there), but as you can see by the pictures we made it.
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| 5 Pointz - NYC |
5 Pointz is a full city block, 200, 000 square foot
factory building that is 5 stories high and is covered in graffiti. The name
signifies the five boroughs (townships) of New York City coming together as
one. The place is legal and artists who are interested in having their work on
the building have to be reviewed and granted permission by the gallery curator
Meres One. Jonathan Cohen, "Meres One," is a graffiti veteran and the
founder of 5 Pointz. His main goal is to convert the building into a graffiti
art museum as long as redevelopment does not happen. Artists from all over
the world (well known and novice) have traveled to paint at 5 Pointz and add to
the colourful walls. The building is free to the public and anyone can go walk
around it. It has become a hangout for local residents and has become a place
of hip hop. Graffiti artists, rappers, DJs and B-Boys often gather on site.
Several known graffiti writers such as Stay High 149 and Tats Cru, as well as Hip Hop stars Kurtis Blow and Mobb Deep have visited the warehouse.
Pictures I took at 5 Pointz (2007):
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