By Bill Parry
When Judge Frederic Block issued a 10-day retraining order last Thursday, he told the lawyers for the 5Pointz owners and the artists suing them to talk to each other.
That has not happened, according to the artists’ lawyer, Jeannine Chanes.
“So far there’s been nothing. We’re just working on our reply papers and waiting for a hearing to determine the facts in this case. We’ll find out when that happens on Monday,” she said this week.
The facts in the case became muddled during oral arguments in Brooklyn federal court Oct. 17. The attorneys representing the artists sought protection under the 1990 Visual Artists Rights Acts. They had hoped to save the 350 graffiti murals that cover the walls at the warehouse complex in Long Island City from a demolition that would make way for a two-tower luxury high-rise development — a plan that was unanimously approved by the City Council two weeks ago.
Chanes contended prior to the hearing that “under VARA they can’t destroy the art without the permission of the artist.”
Lawyers for G & M Realty, the property owner, submitted papers two hours before the hearing that said the artists destroy their own art by painting over graffiti to create space for new murals.
“They took that totally out of context,” said the artists’ spokeswoman Marie Cecile Flangeul.
But it was enough for Block to issue the temporary restraining order, saying “these things are painted over and replaced, they are not permanent fixtures. I have to flesh out if they are transitory or permanent.”
That will be the subject of the future hearing, but Block made it clear the artists face a tough road.
“You are trying to save the walls and tell the owner he can’t use his property,” Block said from the bench. “ I think you have a tough case here.”
He hammered it home when he told Chanes, “You should know you are likely to lose. I’ll be hard-pressed to keep him from developing that property.”
Then the judge issued the TRO, warning that the owners — David and Jerry Wolkoff — could not touch the artwork or prepare the building for demolition and the artists were not to paint. He then urged both parties to negotiate an amicable settlement.
The closest that came to happening was Sunday, when David Wolkoff, who would not return repeated calls for comment, drove into the 5 Pointz complex, at 22-44 Jackson Ave.
“He never got out of his car,” said Flageul. “He was just looking for any signs of new aerosol spraying. He should know by now that we are good people that play by the rules.”
She added: “He should have saved the gas money it cost coming out here.”
Reach Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
