Defiant street artists have retagged the whitewashed walls of 5Pointz to protest the graffiti mecca’s impending destruction.
“You can’t whitewash my city” and “Art is not dead” were among the new messages that appeared Wednesday at the Long Island City warehouse.
The retagging came as a judge formally ruled against halting demolition of the building — and attorneys for its owners said it was the graffiti artists’ own fault they blew their chance to preserve their work in some form by not taking snapshots of them.
The wall was whitewashed on Monday. One of the owners, Jerry Wolkoff, said Wednesday he wasn’t too surprised when fans tried to undo that.
“Some people are misguided, but I understand their emotions. They’re passionate about the art,” he said.
Fans mourned the loss of the graffiti.
“This is a diamond in the rough. I happen to be an art lover and this is a piece of history,” said Cynthia Yates, 57, an MTA bus operator who works across the street.
Romina Comeras, 27, who was visiting from Spain, said: “This is legend. This is like a sacred place for graffiti and we’re sad we didn’t make it in time to see it.”
“This is a special place. It is where everyone comes to showcase their art without getting in trouble by the police,” added José Cipreny, 44, from Queens Village.
Wolkoff said he plans to construct two high-rise buildings with rental units.
Meanwhile, federal Judge Frederic Block denied an injunction to halt demolition. He said 5 Pointz’s curator, Jonathan “meres One” Cohen, “always knew that the buildings were coming down and that his painting, as well as the others he allowed to be placed on the walls, would be destroyed.”
Wolkoff lawyer David Ebert noted that Block had warned the artists that they should take some pictures of their favorite pieces if they wanted to preserve them.
“Although the plaintiffs had a week between the issuance of the Court’s order and the building being painted . . . they did nothing,” Ebert wrote in a court filing.
In his ruling, Block expressed admiration for the artworks and recommended that Wolkoff give space to Cohen and “establish a large, permanent home for quality works by him and his acclaimed aerosol artists.”