5 Pointz by Angela Datre in Long Island City, New York, USA

5 Pointz is an outdoor art exhibition space in Long Island City, Queens where graffiti artists are allowed to paint. It’s really colorful and a great spot to take photos. The 200,000 square foot factory building is filled, top to bottom, with amazing work. It exemplifies how exciting the streets of New York are to me. Whether I’m driving somewhere or just walking around with no set destination, I’m constantly intrigued by the things I see. In this shot my friend Andrew is walking with his photo gear on his back checking out this piece.

Place you live: Long Island, New York

Place your photo was taken: 5 Pointz, Long Island City (Queens), New York.

Can you sum up the place you live in a short paragraph? I live on the south shore of Nassau County on Long Island. I’m about ten minutes from the beach and thirty minutes from New York City and the convenience of having both of those places so close makes living here totally worth it.

Occupation: Photographer

Preoccupation: Frequent Concertgoer

A perfect day in Long Island? My town has a great beach so the perfect thing to do would be to take a long walk on the boardwalk there on a summer night.

For the visitor? I would tell them to go get lost in Manhattan–travel from neighborhood to neighborhood on foot checking out all the great music venues, restaurants, stores, and museums. There’s so much to do, you can never be bored.

What is the best thing about your spot? The best thing about the spot where this photo was taken is how colorful it looks. I think that being able to see art in the streets is one of the coolest things about New York. And it’s super easy to get to by either train or car.

What is the worst? Rumors that 5 Pointz will be torn down next year (See here). Get there and check it out while you still can!

A little known fact about where you live? I think people like to stereotype Long Islanders as being a specific way but the Island is highly populated with lots of diverse areas and neighborhoods which means tons of different people from all walks of life.

Where is your favorite place in the world? I haven’t traveled as much as I’d like to yet. I just love going to new places that I’ve never been before and taking photos there. I especially enjoy driving down the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles or walking around for hours in Manhattan.