Singer Joss Stone backs bid to save Queens graffiti artists' haven 5Pointz

Recording artist Joss Stone has thrown her support behind an effort to preserve 5Pointz, a Long Island City factory building that has become a mecca for graffiti art.

The soul and blues songstress has taken to Twitter to try to prevent 5Pointz from being razed to make way for residential towers.

She posted a link to the online petition, "Show Ur Love to 5Pointz," asking others to sign it.

"It would be so sad to see this place die," she tweeted.

Stone noted in an earlier tweet that she had filmed her music video for the song "Tell Me Bout It" at 5Pointz. The petition has more than 2,800 signatures so far.

"Dont let art die. Five Pointz is a living testament to community beautification!" read a post from James Shields.

"We need places like 5Pointz for the young artist can go to and legally tag the walls with their art," said another petitioner, William Duffy.

"They've worked hard to make 5Pointz what it is today. No one should be able to take that away," wrote Andrea Barton.

Jerry Wolkoff, the owner of the space, has scaled down his plans for the development after meeting with city planning officials.

...which caught the eye of singer Joss Stone. (Cattermole/Getty)

Jonathan Cohen, the graffiti art curator best known by his tag name, Meres, said he was moved by the backing he has gotten.

"The support that people are showing is a great thing. I'm happy to know that I was able to do something that was able to impact a lot of people," he said.

Cohen said he recently held a fund-raiser to help finance activities at what may be the final year for 5Pointz. He said he's working to make it the best year ever, instead of mourning the potential loss.

"I'm not going to sit and mope over what might happen over the next few years. I just want to enjoy the time I have," Cohen said.

Lady Pink, a noted graffiti artist who got her start tagging subway trains in the 1980s, said she equated losing the graffiti haven to "watching a friend die." Still, she is glad that Stone has offered her support.

"It's always nice to have some celebrity backing," she said.

Cohen said he takes joy in the impact that 5Pointz has had.

"Regardless of what happens, we've secured a spot in art history, and that's cool to know," Cohen said.

Taken from: NY Daily News

To read more about the demolition of "5 Pointz", CLICK HERE.