A former “graffiti mecca” in Long Island City may have been wiped clean, but the legal battle continues over whether the outdoor aerosol art should have been preserved under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.

The case marks the first time courts have had to determine whether graffiti, ephemeral by its nature, falls under the protection of the federal VARA, which prohibits the destruction of a work of art of “recognized stature” without a written waiver from the artist.