He who will tell you the price of a thing often knows nothing of its value.

maybe the artist's want to buy it.

"The artists sued under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, which grants an artist the right "to prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature." The artists' lawyer said the works at 5 Pointz meet all the criteria for protection and that the developer would need a signed waiver from every artist to tamper with the walls."

Thats funny when "making graffiti" is a Class A misdemeanor in NY State.

1. For purposes of this section, the term "graffiti" shall mean the etching, painting, covering, drawing upon or otherwise placing of a mark upon public or private property with intent to damage such property. 2. No person shall make graffiti of any type on any building, public or private, or any other property real or personal owned by any person, firm or corporation or any public agency or instrumentality, without the express permission of the owner or operator of said property. Making graffiti is a class A misdemeanor. - PL 145.60

did with the German Reichstag. After a 5 second search I couldn't find any pictures so of course I gave up.

The building burned down in 1933 (supposedly the fire was set by a socialist or a communist and Hitler used the supposed crisis to consolidate power) and, during the Soviet occupation of the area the remains of the building were vandalized and covered with various graffiti tags. After German unification in 1989, the building was restored and the architects chose to leave many of the vandalized sections undisturbed. Many segments of the walls were enclosed in glass and left in their state of disrepair. To a guy who has little appreciation for art and architecture, it had a great impact and was very striking.

Doing something similar to this building in NYC would have created something unique and memorable. Instead, I bet an unremarkable building will probably be erected in this spot. It's a shame. Something amazing could have come out of this.