Museum of Street Art (MoSA) in New York

The Museum of Street Art (MoSA) is a collection of graffiti art from 20 renowned urban artists located on the fire escape of the CitizenM New York Bowery Hotel in New York City.

To access the museum, enter the hotel lobby and go up to the twentieth floor (“R”). Behind the door to the stairwell is the museum, which you can access in its entirety by simply descending from the 20th floor back to the hotel lobby.

Collection

At the MoSA street art museum, you’ll see portraits, collages, and classic and calligraphic graffiti. All works are created using spray paint.

The central idea is a vertical “love letter” to Manhattan’s Lower East Side and Bowery, featuring faces, places, words, and moments. Each image tells its own story.

History

For 12 years starting in 2002, artists from around the world, with the owner’s permission, painted the facades of a five-story building in Long Island City, transforming it into a popular tourist destination and, de facto, an open-air graffiti museum, covering over 18,500 square meters.

Originally known as the Fun Factory, the building was renamed 5Pointz after owner Jerry Wolkoff invited renowned graffiti artist Jonathan Cohen (Meres One) to curate the murals. The name symbolized the unity of New York City’s five boroughs. The main works were located on the exterior walls, while the interior housed approximately 200 artist studios.

However, in 2013, Wolkoff decided to demolish the building to build residential high-rises in its place. Under cover of night, he hired workers who painted over all the murals with white paint. The building itself stood empty for several more months and was finally demolished in 2014.

The graffiti removal was immediately challenged in court. In February, the 21 artists of 5Pointz won a significant victory, being awarded $6.7 million in compensation.