What South Florida Developers Can Learn From New York’s $6.7M Graffiti Case

In a record deal, 201 Northwest 21st Street recently sold for $22 million.

MIAMI–Graffiti helps make South Florida neighborhoods like Wynwood and FAT Village what they are. And while many artists have been arrested for tagging, in one case the graffiti artists won out.

In Jonathan Cohen et. al v. G&M Realty L.P. et al., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York awarded $6.7 million to a group of graffiti artists whose works had been systematically whitewashed under cover of darkness by the owner of 5Pointz, a former factory complex in the Queens borough of New York. While the Feb. 12, 2018, decision sets forth a rationale for protecting graffiti art, Gavin Williams and Elena Otero, attorneys at Holland & Knight, say it also acts as a warning to property owners who permit street artists to cover their exterior walls.