Queens' longtime graffiti mecca 5Pointz was recently whitewashed ahead of its imminent demolition, to be replaced by luxury condos.
But street art culture is alive and well in other parts of the city. In Brooklyn, the Bushwick Collective at Troutman Street and St. Nicholas Avenue is emerging as a new destination for street artists.
Joseph Ficalora, a longtime neighborhood resident, curates the vast outdoor art gallery. He's thrilled with the transformation after seeing crime and graffiti plague the area.
Ficalora, whose family owns a steel fabrication plant in Bushwick, coordinated with other local building owners to find and provide empty walls for street artists. They have come from as far as France and Italy, as well as right here in the U.S. like the Iranian duo Icy and Sot, who moved for political asylum.
"The place is buzzing," street art aficionado Spencer Elzey told Business Insider. "There are cycles where two or three new walls go up in a week or two."
Elzey gave us an insider's tour of the Bushwick Collective, starting at Jefferson Street and Wyckoff Avenue.
The Bushwick Collective is just two years old, but it's already become a thriving scene for street artists. This lion was created by artist ND'A near Jefferson Street.
The area, an outdoor art gallery, is now home to dozens of murals, some by well-known artists. Buff Monster, a street artist who is featured in the Banksy movie "Exit Through the Gift Shop," painted these ice cream characters.
The street artist known as Phlegm came to Bushwick all the way from London to paint this giraffe in his signature style.
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