RIP 5Pointz

Whether you or I agree with it or not doesn't matter now — graffiti "mecca" 5Pointz has officially been painted over as of yesterday. The painting comes before the demolishing, but to a building that was covered in beautiful works of art, whitewashing is basically the same as a wrecking ball.

A lot of people are talking about whether the demise of 5Pointz is a bad thing, good thing or somewhere in between. Even the big bad developer himself apparently has mixed feelings about it, although I'm sure the millions he will make from the eventual luxury condos will soothe any and all wounds.

I don't know how to feel about it exactly — I'm new to this city, so I don't think I've earned the right to wax poetic about the "good old days" quite yet. New York is constantly changing and evolving, for better or worse, and that's one of the constants we have to deal with every day as people who love and live in this city. Demolition is only one part to every evolution, and while luxury condos might not be beneficial to me in any real way, new development can sometimes be great. Without growth and change we wouldn't have anything that makes this city so wonderful.

I'm so glad that I got to see 5Pointz, which I actually stumbled upon by accident, twice this summer. I'm sad that it's gone, but now I can feel like a true New Yorker and say "I remember when..."