N.Y. Federal Judge Justifies $6.75M Graffiti Whitewash Penalty

A New York City federal district judge issued a 90-page ruling laying out his rationale for sanctioning a developer who destroyed dozens of graffiti art works.

Judge Frederic Block of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York wrote in personal terms to justify the $6.75 million penalty he imposed on Gerald Wolkoff in February for whitewashing the 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, which stood at an abandoned complex in Long Island City, Queens.

Block expressed regret for his 2013 decision to lift an injunction that allowed for the whitewashing.

“I found out at the trial that Wolkoff ...