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US jury sides with New York graffiti artists over destruction of their work

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A 2013 file photo shows New York's graffiti iconic spot "5Pointz” as it stands defaced with white paint covering most of the art work. A New York jury has decided that a developer broke US federal law by whitewashing over and demolishing works of graffiti art, recommending that he pay damages. Photo: Agence France-Presse
Associated Press

A federal jury has sided with a group of New York graffiti artists who sued over the destruction of their work.

A judge will now decide whether the artists must be compensated for the loss of their whitewashed murals.

The jury’s advisory ruling came on Tuesday in the lawsuit over a site in Queens known as 5Pointz.

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Owner Jerry Wolkoff allowed the spray-paint artists to use his buildings for decades but said they always knew the buildings would be torn down someday.

The graffiti was painted over in 2013, and the buildings were torn down in 2014.

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File photo taken on November 18, 2013 shows the historic graffiti mecca 5 Pointz seen after being painted over by developers in the Long Island City neighbourhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Photo: Agence France-Presse
File photo taken on November 18, 2013 shows the historic graffiti mecca 5 Pointz seen after being painted over by developers in the Long Island City neighbourhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Photo: Agence France-Presse
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