NY’s ‘5 Pointz’ graffiti artists awarded US$6.7m after company destroys walls they painted on to build condos

A New York judge has awarded US$6.7 million to graffiti artists who sued after their work was destroyed on buildings torn down to make room for luxury condos.

Federal Judge Frederic Block in Brooklyn noted Monday there was no remorse from Jerry Wolkoff, the owner of the Queens warehouse buildings known locally as 5 Pointz.

Block said he would not have assessed so much in damages if Wolkoff had awaited his permits and demolished the art 10 months later than he did.

Twenty-one aerosol artists had sued Wolkoff after he had their vibrant work painted over in 2013. The buildings were then torn down a year later to make way for expensive condos.

Wolkoff allowed the spray-paint artists to use his buildings for decades; they were curated first by Pat DiLillo and later by Jonathan “Meres One” Cohen, who would ensure high quality and that artists were not connected to local gang culture or vandalising local neighbourhoods.