New LIC Coffee Shop Pays Tribute To 5Pointz Murals

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — A new Long Island City coffee shop pays homage to bygone landmark 5Pointz, a beloved collection of street art murals that decorated a nearby warehouse.

The legendary community street art haven lives on in Long Island City with a new set of murals by 5Pointz artists in Sweetleaf Coffee in Queens Plaza, which opened March 21.

Sweetleaf's new location at 28-10 Jackson Ave. is just up the street from the former 5Pointz site, whose owner whitewashed the murals in 2013 and demolished the buildings the following year to make way for luxury condos. The artists had been painting the outside of the buildings since 1993 with the owner's permission.

The artists who contributed to the coffee shop are:

• 5Pointz founder meres one (Jonathan Cohen)
• Damien Mitchell
• zimad (Luis Lamboy)
• see tf (Carlos Game)
• topaz (James Rocco)

"When I opened the original Sweetleaf Coffee back in 2008, Long Island City was a very different place," Sweetleaf owner Rich Nieto said in a statement. "Sometimes it felt like our only customers were art tourists on their way to see the 5Pointz building."

"When I walked into the vacant space of our new location and saw the giant wall in the middle of it, I knew exactly what to do with it,"Nieto added.

The murals depict famous Queens residents like the Ramones, Louis Armstrong and Cyndi Lauper.

Nieto, a Queens native, founded Sweetleaf in 2008.