Photo of the day: EARLY SUNDAY MORNING IN HARLEM
June 4, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 125th Street, 125th Street Harlem, 1920's Harlem mural nightcllubbing, arts, Baptist church, Benjamin Franklin, church nurse and street art, Franco Gaskin, Franco the Great, Hans Von Rittern, Harlem, Harlem 125th Street murals, Harlem gospel tours, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, nurse tradition in Baptist churches, nurse usherettes, nurse volunteer usherettes Baptist churches, nurses uniform, Photo of the day, photography, Psalms 84: l0b, street art | Leave a comment
Phot of the day: TWO DAYS TILL “WHITEWASH” April 5, 6-9pm !
Jeffrey Leder Gallery: 2137 45th Road, 2 blocks from 5 Pointz and PSI MOMA.
Long Island City, New York 11101
Gallery 212-924-8944
April 3, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz celebration, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 5 Pointz wake, 5 Pointz white washed, 7 train, arts, Auks, Brooklyn, Cortes, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, mourning 5 Pointz, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Queensboro Plaza, See TF, SHIRO, street art, Sunnyside, Topaz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW – Sunday November 17, 2013, 8:24pm
Opening reception April 5, 6-9pm! Come join me – you’re invited!!
FIVE DAYS TO GO TILL 5 POINTZ EXHIBIT OPENING !
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
March 31, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, Auks, Brooklyn, Cortes, entertainment, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, inside 5 Pointz, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, last photo of 5 Pointz 11-17-13, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, Queens, See TF, SHIRO, street art, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, Topaz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: LAZY SUNDAY AFTERNOON 2011 AT 5 POINTZ – 6 DAYS STILL “WHITEWASH” EXHIBIT
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
March 30, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, Auks, Brooklyn, Cortes, entertainment, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, inside 5 Pointz, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, Queens, See TF, SHIRO, street art, That's Dready, Topaz, toxic Queens, toxic view of Citibank building Queens, view from 5 Pointz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: TOXIC – 7 days till “Whitewash”
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
March 29, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, Auks, Brooklyn, Cortes, entertainment, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, inside 5 Pointz, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, Queens, See TF, SHIRO, street art, That's Dready, Topaz, toxic Queens, toxic view of Citibank building Queens, view from 5 Pointz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: GET READY TO GET ‘WHITEWASHED’!
March 27, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, arts, entertainment, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, Sunnyside | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: MERELY THE BEGINNING!! APRIL 5, 2014, Hans in “Whitewash” exhibit!
Contributing Artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Meres One, Orestes Gonzalez, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad
“Whitewash, is an answer to the violent act of G&M realty on November 19th, 2013 in Long Island City Queens. Overnight thousands of murals adorning the building known as 5 Pointz were destroyed. It‘s a story of pain, sadness, and anger at times and reflection – An epic of an art community and its home coming apart under the pressure of economical trends and waves of gentrification.
Bringing together a cluster of resident graffiti artists and two Queens photographers, the exhibition enables the artists to express their true feelings and thought process since loosing their work to a white layer of paint, and their home to the pressing demands of real estate development. For the first time since the whitewash we will witness how affected this collective is by being eclipsed from their 11 years home.
The works in Whitewash aspire to such: Laying feelings on canvas, and letting go of the pain, the show brings together artworks that can be interpreted as confession, lessons, or reflection but also aspirations and hopes.
Whitewash is an obvious requiem for 5 Pointz the building but also maybe the beginning of a rebirth of 5 Pointz the community and its true core: the people.“
Marie-Cecile Flageul
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
March 26, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz destroyed, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, art destroyed 5 Pointz, Art exhibit, arts, Auks, Cortes, David Wolkoff, entertainment, G&M realty, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, November 19th 2013, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, politics, PS1 MOMA, See TF, SHIRO, street art, Sunnyside, Topaz, Ursula Von Rittern, Zimad | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: “IT’S A VON RITTERN!”
PHO-TO-GRAFFS: March 16 – April 27, 2014 http://www.greatneckarts.org/
March 18, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, architecture, Deborah Blau, Gold Coast Arts Center, Gold Coast Gallery, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, hip-hop culture, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Marie Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, street art museum, Tom Orzo, Ursula Von Rittern | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY !
March 17, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, arts, Hans Von Rittern, HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY, Japanese Irish Elf graffiti, Long Island City, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, SHIRO, Shoko Mikami, street art | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: COME TO THE GOLD COAST TODAY !
When you get off the train station walk approx. 5 blocks straight down the charming old Americana street of Middle Neck Road, till you get to Maple Drive.
And viola – there it is!
SEE YOU THERE!
March 16, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, architecture, Barry Stern, Farbeon, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, hip-hop culture, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Norma Hill, Orestes Gonzalez, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Raymond Hamlin, street art, street art museum, travel instructions to Gold Coast Arts | Leave a comment
PHO-TO-GRAFFS Photo Exhibit, Gold Coast Gallery, Sunday, March 16, 3pm
Today, the distinctly urban popular culture of graffiti has
been supplanted by the likes of hip-hop, rap concerts, slam poetry performances
and the sub-culture of skateboarding. Due to the impermanent nature of much of
this art, photography has become the primary means of documenting its evolution.
It is the photographer’s goal to record the diversity of the city as a canvas,
the people who create art and the art itself.
These photographers keep urban
culture alive by providing historical documentation for future generations.
A handful of artists/photographers recognized the artistic and social significance
of the hip hop movement. Each of these individuals approached documentation in a
unique way. Through collective efforts, these photographers preserve an
important part of this distinct urban art form. Their photographic record of the
art has not only assisted in the preservation of the culture; it has also aided
in its growth. These photographers go out into the streets and find incredible,
even unlikely places and subjects that have inspired them. We can’t fail to be
inspired as well.
Artists on display: Raymond Hamlin, Orestes Gonzalez ,Norma Hill, Hans Von Rittern, Barry Stern, Farbeon,
Liu Bolin, Rachel Alban, Jay Hirschfeld.

March 15, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, Barry Stern, Farbeon, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Norma Hill, Orestes Gonzalez, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Raymond Hamlin, street art, street art museum | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE 5 POINTZ JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE STAMP
March 14, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix quotes, Jimi Hendrix stamp, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, postage stamp, Queens, Rego Park Queens, street art, street art museum, US Postal Service, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: GOOGLE EYES
March 13, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1961 portrait, 1961 Rego Park Queens, 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, childhood photo, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Rego Park Queens, street art, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: LEARNING TO WRITE
March 12, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, child learning graffiti writing, class in street art, David Wolkoff, gentrification in Long Island City, Gerry Wolkoff, Gold Coast Arts Center, Gold Cost Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE DETERMINED PHOTOGRAPHER
March 11, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, child photographer, David Wolkoff, gentrification in Long Island City, Gerry Wolkoff, Gold Coast Arts Center, Gold Cost Arts Center, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: ZEN TAG
March 5, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: arts, Buddha, Buddha street art, Buddha tag, grocery store, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Marilyn Monroe, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, price sticker art, pricing gun, service entrance gate, side streets, street art, Zen, Zen Buddha | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: HANS’ EXHIBIT ANNOUNCEMENT at GOLD COAST ARTS CENTER! – March 16, Sunday, 3-6pm !
Directions
The Great Neck Arts Center is located in Great Neck at 113 Middle Neck Road. Our entrance is through the rear of the building in the northwest corner of the outdoor Maple Drive parking lot (see map). Please note – you cannot enter the Arts Center from Middle Neck Road – you must use the Maple Drive parking lot entrance.
If heading east on Long Island Expressway, take exit 33 and turn north on Lakeville Road. Crossing Northern Blvd. Lakeville Road becomes South Middle Neck Road, then Middle Neck Road. Continue into town, turn right at the 8th traffic light onto Maple Drive. Make your first left into the outdoor Maple Drive parking lot. Entrance to GNAC is in the northwest corner of the lot.
Parking
Pay parking is available in the Village of Great Neck Plaza parking outdoor lot on Maple Drive and in a covered garage across the street. Additional parking is available on the street (hourly and metered). http://www.greatneckplaza.net
Public Transit
The Great Neck Arts Center is served by Nassau County bus line N24 and is accessible from midtown Manhattan via the Long Island Railroad Port Washington Line. http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr
February 25, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, arts, celebrating Graffiti, celebrating Hip Hop, celebrating Urban Culture, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Great Neck Arts Center, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Hans Von Rittern photo exhibit, interaction with graffiti and hip hop, Jude Amsel, LIRR, Manhattan, March 16 Sunday 3-6pm, Meet and greet Hans Von Rittern, Middle Neck Road, New York City, New York photo, PHO-TO-GRAFFS, Photo of the day, photography, photography exhibit, Queens, street art, street photography | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: STEEL MAGNOLIAS
February 23, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: A rose grows in Spanish Harlem, architecture, Aretha Franklin, arts, flowers pianted on steel wall, graffiti art, graffiti tags, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, rusty painted fowers, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, street art, street mural | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: BETWEEN TWO KISSES
January 11, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, king and queen street art, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, street art | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: PERSON(S) OF THE YEAR – DONNY MOSS AND THE TEAM OF JONATHAN MERES (ONE) COHEN AND MARIE FLAGEUL
Photo of the day: PERSON(S) OF THE YEAR – DONNY MOSS AND THE TEAM OF JONATHAN MERES (ONE) COHEN AND MARIE FLAGEUL
– I have not ever had such a hard decision to come up with just one person to say they had most affected my life and the lives of the people around them. In such a tumultuous political year it has to be three people, Meres and Marie acting as one force. And by NO means choosing three people does it diminish in any way how important these three powerful people are.
DONNY MOSS:
I feel can be held responsible for almost single handedly destroying the political career of mega powerful New York councilwoman and bully Christine Quinn. She is a bully that represented every horrible thing that Mayor/dictator Bloomberg had done to destroy New York City in his 12 years in office. It is Quinn that alone saw to it that the laws were ‘changed’ so that Bloomberg could run for a third term in 2009 against the will of the people. With that, the slaughter of the middle class and it’s neighborhoods continued. This took New York City from 3 classes of citizens: lower, a strong middle and always upper class to a tapestry of investment bankers, real-estate developers, and Russian oligarchs. Then Donny’s release of a 2009 YouTube video exposing her two-faced betrayal of her own (she’s a lesbian) gay community and her horrific anti-animal rights stances exposed her to New York City. The most important and powerful was his documentary “Christine Quinn – Behind the Smile.” Most people thought Donny was nuts, an animals rights fanatic. Well that changed quickly as his persistent voice released more and more videos and more and more people began to listen.
When Gray Line was forcing the live tour guides (me) out of our jobs in favor of pre-recorded tours, because of a Quinn fake anti-noise bill, Donny sought me out to let me know of his fight against Quinn. I dismissed him as a fanatic, after all, Quinn couldn’t possibly be THAT horrible . . . she was worse. I listened to Donny and I jumped on board with Donny’s fight, the tour guides joined and my big mouth got many people to join Donny. Wonderful, wonderful loving animal rights activist groups and anyone that hated Bloomberg and wanted to save NYC joined us. We protested at everyone of her public appearances and taunted her mercilessly. Our numbers grew, as did our budget. We handed out flyers during rush hour at subway stations, bus and ferry terminals. My mother was one of his staunchest supporters, never leaving her house without Donny’s literature to hand out in the neighborhood. People began to listen and the animal rights people, the minorities, the middle class and passionate celebrities formed an army. ABQ = Anyone But Quinn! People like Cynthia Nixon, Susan Sarandon and the entertainment community brought their fame, money and passion to the public’s eye. These people already hated Quinn, but I insist that is Donny’s persistent, passionate, intelligent voice from the beginning opened everyone’s eyes. Quinn’s poll numbers began to plummet from leader of the mayoral race to 3rd or 4th place, week after week.
On November 5, 2013, Bill de Blasio won the mayoral election by a landslide, receiving over 73% of the vote and will become the first Democratic mayor of the city in nearly 20 years. Thank you Donny Moss for giving me my city back!
M+M, JONATHAN MERES (ONE) COHEN and MARIE CECILE FLAGEUL:
A forceful team, together they ARE 5 Pointz/ “the institute of higher burning“, the curators of the leading world’s graffiti and street mural art museum and mecca that was destroyed by the cruel vindictive whitewashing of the building in the middle of the night on November 19 of this year by Gerry Wolkoff. Words almost fail me to describe the incredible joy and privilege I have of being their friends. My heart is so deeply full of the pleasure they have brought to the entire world through their tireless efforts to have made 5 Pointz bigger and better year after year. I had come for years as an enthralled neighbor to support the saving of 5 Pointz. Then it then dawned on me that as a tour guide, this was the ultimate New York experience to bring my guests there as a surprise last stop. Over the years I had gained Meres’ and Marie’s trust by never betraying them or their art, by never pretending to be anyone else but someone who passionately loved this mesmerizing art. I thrived on the surprised looks on my tourist guest’s faces as they approached the loading dock and where overwhelmed by the fantastic colors and phantasmagorical art work. I felt like a million dollars sharing this with them.
Marie fiercely defended the illegal filming on the site, but saw to it that has been included in countless films, music videos and blogs. Meres saw to it that fellow writers and artists respected the sight and oversaw all the murals that would dazzle your imagination, resulting in world wide recognition as the premier street art museum. 200,000-square-feet (19,000 m2) of dazzling imagination from all over the world. Meres’ signature light bulbs are now recognized all over the world. Did you know that if look up any travel guide, 5 Pointz is listed as the #1 thing to see in Queens? – you can thank the brilliance of Meres and Marie for that. Meres’ 5 Pointz tours via SideTours was their #1 attraction and would sell out rapidly when new dates were announced. You felt so very special taking his tour, plain and simple = it was just so fucking cool! New York City owes them a big commission check for all the tourist money they brought to New York, Queens and especially Long Island City.
But one of the most powerful gifts they have given to so many and I have been lucky enough to receive, is their bringing together one of the most diverse group of people from across the city and the globe who otherwise never would have met and shared such passion, joy and fun. Art unites, art opens your eyes and hearts, art can even save lives. Meres and Marie united the world through the brilliance of Meres’ artful vision and Marie’s passion. To say “thank you et merci” almost doesn’t seem enough . . .
December 31, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2013 mayoral election, 2013 New York mayoral race, 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, ABQ, animal lovers, animal rights activists, anti Bloomberg, anti Quinn, ANYBODY BUT QUINN ABQ, art saves lives, art unites, Bill DeBlasio, Bloombergistan, Christine Quinn, Christine Quinn - Behind the Smile, Councilwoman Christine Quinn, Cynthia Nixon, destruction of New York City, dictator Bloomberg, Donny Moss, Gerry Wolkoff, Gray Line tour guides, Gray Line Tours, Hans Von Rittern, Hans' person of the year, Institute of higher burning, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City Queens, Marie Cecile Flageul, Marie Flageul, New York City, New York city tours, New York photo, Person of the Year 2013, phantasmagorical art work, photography, politics, Queens, Quinn Behind the Smile, Side Tours, street art, Susan Sarandon, the premier street art museum, whitewashing of 5 Pointz | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: I’M NOT DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS AT 5 POINTZ
December 14, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz covered in white paint and snow, 5 Pointz in snow, 5 Pointz International Graffiti Museum, 7 train, art destroyed 5 Pointz, December 14 2013 New York snowstorm, Gerry Wolkoff, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas, Long Island City, Marie Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, Sunnyside, white paint 5 Pointz | Leave a comment
Photos of the day: MODERN DAY HITLER VANDALIZES ‘DEGENERATE ART’ AT 5 POINTZ
Photos of the day: MODERN DAY HITLER VANDALIZES ‘DEGENERATE ART’ AT 5 POINTZ:
Tuesday November 19, 2013 is a day I will not long forget. It was a twist of events and cruel fate that brought many powers of good and evil together.
My dear friend and fellow tour guide Tom Orzo and I picked up 6 German tourist guests at the Queen Mary 2 at the Brooklyn piers for a 3 hour city tour. Normally Tom and I end our tour with a surprise visit to 5Pointz. Since we were coming from Brooklyn, Tom (doing the driving) insisted we make 5Pointz our first fateful stop. At 10:45 we were heading down Jackson Avenue when Tom kept calling out “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”. I thought it was his over-reaction to a smaller building in front of the Graffiti Museum that was being torn down. My back was to the museum, I’m facing my German guests telling them how extraordinary a site they are about to see. Now I realize their faces seemed odd and puzzled, so I turn around to the shock of seeing men on high cranes slopping white paint all over the building, obliterating 12 years of spectacular intricate art. I quickly got out to see if I recognized anyone.
I ran back to the van and we sped to the main loading dock/entrance to the building. And there it was, a vandalized, obliterated work of art – 12+ years destroyed. I ripped open the door to the van and ran into the arms of curator Marie Flaguel and held her as tightly as I could. I cried deep from the gut. I couldn’t stop, I could not speak, I kept gasping for air. I was afraid to let go for fear of seeing Marie’s face. Finally I had to. “It’s all gone…” she said as tears streamed down her face. The owner Jerry Wolkoff, the same man who had asked the artists to paint the murals on his building, had hired non union thugs to destroy over 1,500 pieces of art outside and even throughout the entire inside of the building. Murals that would take your breath away now had erratic white brush strokes all over them. Oddly enough, the greater more powerful murals – had extra coats of white paint over them, it was deliberate, fearful, vindictive and hateful. How do you find words in a moment when you realize it was one of the greatest mass desecrations of art in the 21st Century. An art genocide.
As Marie was filling me in on what happened, one of my German guests, Andrea Pröscholdt-Krulich, ran over in tears. “Why?! Warum?!” she kept asking. She was quite shaken. You see – her son was a graffiti artist who had recently committed suicide. She had planned on this trip to New York to visit 5Pointz to pay homage to her son. She never thought that a ‘routine Manhattan city tour’ would have included our surprise visit here. Andrea and my guests were stunned at the amount of press around us and the unexplainable goings on. They looked on in wonderment – here they were in ‘free’ America’, in ‘progressive’ New York and they were watching Hitler-like tactics unfold before their stunned eyes. Some of my older guests were survivors of World War II. I had to get back on the coach and explain what was happening. Then I realized something. I was with a group of Germans, some of whom had been through a time in Germany when Hitler from 1936 to 1937 rounded up all “modern” art – “Entartete Kunst“ and declared it ‘degenerate’ and had it all destroyed. Over 5,000 works were seized, including 1,052 by Emil Nolde, 759 by Heckel, 639 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and 508 by Max Beckman, as well as smaller numbers of works by such artists as Alexander Archipenko, Chagall, James Ensor, Matisse, Picasso and even Van Gogh. What Jerry Wolkoff did was no different!
But we were not there to mourn the destruction of the museum, their clock was ticking and I was there paid to give a tour. We continued with our tour, but every time we came to a red light or got stuck in traffic, the conversation always went back to the disbelief of 5Pointz. We dropped off our guests and I headed to a candle light vigil that was held at 5pm.
The vigil’s atmosphere was like a tomb, what had been vibrant was dead. At night the ‘white” was even more ‘deadly’ and eerie. People kept coming, looking up in silent tearful disbelief and anger. Poster boards were taped onto the building for us to leave our messages. The purpose of the posters is – we will never ever again grace his walls with a single piece of art, line, scribble name or even a dot. Wolkoff had the audacity to claim he too cried. He claimed he had done this so the artist wouldn’t have had the pain of seeing their art work torn down over a period of months. This scumbag reasoning is because he was afraid of the momentum we were gaining. On last Sunday’s rally, when 5Pointz was packed, Marie and Meres (co-curators) had gathered over 1,000 signed petitions in ONE day, to have the building land marked and saved. The owner Wolkoff cleverly erased the value of the building. Let us also not forget, the approval of the two twin glass towers that he plans to build on the same spot were approved by the weasel of a lying two-faced councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, the lowest form of politician there is: big smiling child like innocent face, with his hand holding a knife behind his back, ready to strike for his financial gain. Wolkoff and Bramer – greed is the intoxicant but karma is the bitch.
So joining the ranks now of Picasso, Matisse and Van Gogh are artists Onur Dinc, Esteban Del Valle, Meres One, Spidertag, Kidlew, Kkade, Rubin, Aka Shiro, Veronique Barrilot, Contort, Jekl and Dyzer5, Bisco, Bishop203, Just One, Leias, Zeso, and Zimad, Lord Roc, Bisc1, one of my favorites Carlos “See TF” Game and so, so many, many more. Who is anyone to say they aren’t the next Keith Harring, Basquiat, or Matisse? It is a knife in the soul of a fading New York.
November 20, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2013, 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz destroyed, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 5 Pointz white washed, 7 train, Aka Shiro, Alexander Archipenko, and Zimad, Andrea Pröscholdt-Krulich, architecture, art genocide, arts, Basquiat, Bisc1, Bisco, Bishop203, candel light vigil 5 Pointz, Carlos "See TF" Game, celebrities, Chagall, Contort, Councilman Jimmy Van Brammer, Emil Nolde, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Esteban Del Valle, Experiencing the destruction of 5 Pointz, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Heckel, Hitler degenerate art, inside 5 Pointz, Jackson Avenue, James Ensor, Jekl and Dyzer5, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Just One, Keith Harring, Kidlew, Kkade, Leias, Long Island City Queens, Lord Roc, Manhattan, Marie Flageul, MARILYN Carlos "See TF" Game, Marilyn Monroe, Matisse, Max Beckman, Meres One, Meres Stand Here, Nazi Germany, New York City, New York photo, Onur Dinc, Photo of the day, photography, Picasso, politics, Queens, Rubin, See TF Marilyn, Spidertag, Sterling City Tours, street art, subway, Sunnyside, Tom Orzo, Tuesday November 19, Van Gogh, Veronique Barrilot, World War II Germany, Zeso | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: SMILE . . . it’s SUNDAY !
November 10, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, Batman the Joker, Ceasar Romero as Batman TV series, Cesar Romero as Batman TV series, Hans Von Rittern, Jackson Avenue, Long Island City Queens, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, Queens, street art, street sticker art, Sunnyside | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: GIVE ME THE LIBERTY TO GIVE A TOUR !
October 8, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, Battery Park, government shut down, graffiti art, Hans Von Rittern, Hurricane Sandy, Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Manhattan, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, national park shut downs, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, Queens, shutdown hurting New York tourism, Statue of Liberty, Statue of Liberty closed to tourists, Statue of Liberty mural, street art, tour guides hurt by shutdown, tourism, VERONIQUE BARRILLOT, Veronique Barrilot | Leave a comment