It's been over three months since jewelry designer Nicole Gagne was seriously injured during an external stairway collapse at 5Pointz. The LIC building housed her studio, along with many other artist's workspaces.
Those other artists, along with friends and family, are coming together to host a benefit for the 37-year-old, who is still recovering reports the Daily News. Her mother spoke out for the first time, saying, her daughter is no longer in the hospital, but “is still rehabbing from the accident. That is really all I can say right now.” The benefit takes place at 5:30 p.m. this Thursday, at the Priska C. Juschka Fine Art gallery in Chelsea, where postcard-sized artwork will be sold for $40.
Meanwhile, 5Pointz building owner Gerald Wolkoff, following the incident, was given a vacate order by the Buildings Department. The order will not be lifted until all (11 in total) of the violations are corrected. But Wolkoff says it's “financially impossible” to do that, and as such the artists holding studios there will not be able to return.
