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QC08282014

FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com august 28, 2014 • The Queens Courier 35 Demolition begins at 5Pointz BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO AND LIAM LA GUERRE editorial@queenscourier.com The walls have started to come down at the Long Island City site that was once home to the graffiti mecca known as 5Pointz. Demolition began Aug. 22 at the property on Jackson Avenue and Davis Street as crews teared down the back wall with bulldozers. Last month, Jerry Wolkoff, owner of the property, said he hoped to begin demolishing the buildings in August after initially looking to tear down the site months ago. The demolition is expected to take up to three months to finish. Wolkoff and his company, G&M Realty, plan to build two apartment towers — one 47 stories and the other 41 stories tall — with close to 1,000 rental apartments, 32,000 square feet of outdoor public space and 50,000 square feet of retail space between them. In October, the City Council approved the developer’s proposal to build apartment towers to larger dimensions than allowed by current zoning rules. Wolkoff ordered to have the building and all the aerosol work that covered it painted white overnight last November, only a few days after artists and supporters held rallies looking to save the graffiti mecca and requested the site be landmarked. Then earlier this month, Wolkoff released a rendering of a reserved space for graffiti that will be on the new building’s exterior near a rear courtyard, and will be open to the public. However, some artists and 5Pointz supporters are skeptical of the reserved space. “Who knows what kind of artists it’s going to attract, what’s it’s going to be like and how are they going to manage that,” said Carolina Peñafiel, founder and director of Local Project, a nonprofit arts organization that used to be housed in 5Pointz. Peñafiel stopped by the former graffiti mecca to watch the early demolition and reflect on it. “It’s sad to see that nobody was able to do anything,” she said. “It wasn’t just a building. It was 5Pointz, you know? I don’t think you could build something like this again.” THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Scam emails target E-ZPass holders BY ERI C JANKIE WICZ ejankiewicz@queenscourier.com Photo courtesy of MTA/Oscar Gonzalez @EricJankiewicz E-ZPass holders beware. The New York State Thruway Authority is warning people who have E-ZPasses to watch out for “bogus” scam emails asking people to download an invoice. The email is disguised as an official correspondence from the E-ZPass service center. “Please be advised this is not an authorized communication from E-ZPass, the New York State Thruway Authority or any other toll agency associated with E-ZPass,” the New York State Thruway wrote. “We advise you not to open or respond to such a message should you receive one.” The warning, issued on Aug. 22, doesn’t mention how prevalent the phishing scam is. It is unclear how the scammers were able to access the email addresses of E-ZPass holders.


QC08282014
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