Street Art- Manhattan

Street is a part of the Manhattan landscape. That means graffiti tags, wall decals, store fronts, and stickers. 

Kips Bay, Manhattan

Nomad, Manhattan

Midtown, Manhattan

N Train, Union Square

5 Pointz

Before NYC took down 5 Pointz, I got the chance to tour it with a camera. With each circle around the outside of the industrial building, more and more pieces would register with me. The quantity of pieces, and their variety, was overwhelming.

After walking around as much of the building as was possible, Meghan and I walked back to our train. We wanted to come back with more people. It was a sin to live in NYC for longer than two years and not make the trip out to Long Island City to see this place. There was a good Peruvian place right there, too.

When I heard about NYC turning 5 Pointz into a condominium, I was upset. I signed the petition, and reposted the campaign. A few months later, pictures surfaced of the now white-washed walls that used to be crammed with works of the world's greatest street artists. It was sad. It was the end of an incredibly alive and beautiful gallery.

Esteban del Valle

5 Pointz

This blog is a small way of preventing galleries like 5 Pointz from being scrubbed away. I'm passionate about it, because I like seeing street artists boldly and assertively pursue their craft.

Seven pieces of the love-hate relationship between New York City and Graffiti

1. The MTA ran a campaign to try to put an end to graffiti on subway cars.

2. Make a reservation and you can get a free walking tour of Bushwick's industrial landscapes that are the current obsession of street artists.

3. In 2013 NYC demolished 5 Pointz (storied graffiti shrine).

4. In 2013 NYC commissioned street artists to paint a series of eight murals along the BQE trains.

5. Bloomberg on Graffiti: "Graffiti does ruin people’s property and is a sign of decay and a loss of control... there are some places [for] no art. And you running up to someone’s property or public property and defacing it is not my definition of art." 

6. There is a love letter to Brooklyn graffitied on a Hoyt Street parking garage in Downtown Brooklyn. 

7. NYC property owners enlist street artists to paint murals so vandals will be kept off their walls.