Jewish Developer Must Pay $6.7M For Destroying Famous Graffiti Art
Image by Getty Images
By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 14, 2018
A federal judge ordered a developer on Monday to pay $6.7 million to graffiti artists whose murals he whitewashed five years ago, The New York Times reported.
The developer, Jerry Wolkoff, has owned the Queens, New York graffiti mecca known as 5Pointz since the 1970s. In 2013, amid plans to redevelop the property, Wolkoff ordered dozens of world-famous works of graffiti art erased from the building’s walls.
“The clear message is that art protected by federal law must be cherished and not destroyed,” Eric Baum, a lawyer for the 21 artists who won the judgement, told the Times. “With this win, the spirit of 5Pointz becomes a legacy for generations of artists to come.”
Under the court’s ruling, some of the destroyed artwork at 5Pointz was determined to have been been protected by a federal law meant to protect public art.
Wolkoff’s son and business partner, David Wolkoff, is married to Stephanie Wolkoff, senior advisor to First Lady Melania Trump.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
