The twelve factory buildings that made up 5Pointz were constructed by the Thomson Meter Company in 1892. Though it would change its name to the Neptune Meter Company in 1873, the real change came when it moved to Tallassee, Alabama in 1972.

Following Neptune's departure, developer Jerry Wolkoff purchased the complex with plans to redevelop the area. However, he wouldn't act upon it until 40 years later. Instead, Wolkoff leased the space out as artists studios at below-market rates in the early 1990s.

Concurrently, Pat DiLillo of nearby Woodside, Queens approached Wolkoff to use the outside of the building for artists' aerosol work. Wolkoff agreed, and DiLillo called his program the "Phun Factory." DiLillo's factory aimed to take kids off the street with the aim of "prodding young artists to get the GED's and discouraging them from breaking the law."

The Phun Factory had strict rules for submission: work couldn't feature gang symbols, and if a tag of an artist was found in the surrounding neighborhood, their piece would be removed. Jonathan Cohen, known by his tag Meres One, took over the project shortly after and called it 5Pointz, sometimes known as "5 Pointz: The Institute of Higher Burnin' or "5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc." The name was meant to symbolize a meeting of New York's five boroughs though, by this time, the spot was a meeting place for artists from all over the world.

The 5Pointz portion of the Neptune buildings encompassed roughly 130,000 square feet of space which was visible from its eastern corner by the 7 train.

In 2009, an artist was descending a fire escape when the concrete supporting the stair collapsed under her. The incident prompted the New York City's Department of Buildings to call for the largest building's demolition, citing missing permits and numerous other deficiencies. Artists weren't allowed to work from their studios for months and the building's future was uncertain.

This incident revealed the precarity of the artists' arrangement with Wolkoff. If the tenants paid below-market rates for the studio space, there was no way the developer was making a profit. What did Wolkoff really owe the artists? In 2013, Wolkoff revealed plans to demolish the 5Pointz. Artists sued and claimed the cultural significance of the building meant that it should be preserved. Unfortunately, the court ruled that Wolkoff had the upper hand. Over the course of one night, Wolkoff's company whitewashed 5Pointz of its murals in preparation for its demolition.

And so, 5Pointz was no more. In 2018, 21 artists sued Wolkoff for the whitewashing. This time the courts ruled in their favor, requiring the company to pay $6.7 million in damages. As the new development topped off on the former 5Pointz site, Wolkoff's firm has requested a permit to increase the size of the development for 15,000 square feet of artist's studios. However, this olive branch might just be too little too late.