5Pointz was located in Queens, specifically in Long Island City, New York City.
The site occupied a former factory complex at 45-46 Davis Street, close to the Queensboro Bridge and visible from the 7 subway line. Its walls became a legal outdoor canvas for aerosol artists from New York and around the world. The name “5 Pointz” referred to the meeting of New York City’s five boroughs, not to the neighborhood’s name.
The complex began as the Neptune Meter factory, built in 1892. Graffiti activity developed there in the 1990s, first under the name Phun Phactory, and Jonathan Cohen—known as Meres One—later curated the walls and renamed it 5 Pointz in 2002.
A common mix-up is assuming the site was in Manhattan because it became famous across New York. It was demolished in 2014 after its murals had been whitewashed. In 2018, a federal judge awarded $6.7 million to artists whose works had been destroyed.