The High Line is a
elevated
An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast i ...
linear park
A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear p ...
,
greenway and
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
created on a former
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
spur on the
west side
West Side or Westside may refer to:
Places Canada
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Westside, Birmingham E ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between
James Corner Field Operations James Corner (born 1961) is a landscape architect and theorist whose works exhibit a focus on "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." His designs of note include Fresh Kills Park on Staten Island and ...
,
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by four partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo ...
, and
Piet Oudolf
Piet Oudolf (; born 27 October 1944) is a Dutch garden designer, nurseryman and author. He is a leading figure of the "New Perennial" movementhis designs and plant compositions using bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses which are cho ...
. The abandoned spur has been redesigned as a "living system" drawing from multiple disciplines which include landscape architecture,
urban design
Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban de ...
, and
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
. The High Line was inspired by the long
Promenade plantée
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
(tree-lined walkway), a similar project in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
completed in 1993.
The park is built on a disused, southern
viaduct section of the New York Central Railroad's
West Side Line
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via ...
. Originating in the
Meatpacking District
The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District along ...
, the park runs from
Gansevoort Street Gansevoort may refer to any one of the following:
__NOTOC__ People
*Guert Gansevoort (1812–1868), US Navy officer
*Harmen Harmense Gansevoort (ca. 1634–1709), early American settler, landowner and beer brewer
*Leonard Gansevoort (1751–1810), ...
– three blocks below
14th Street – through
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
to the northern edge of the
West Side Yard
The West Side Yard (officially the John D. Caemmerer West Side Yard) is a rail yard of 30 tracks owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. Used to store commuter rail trains operated by t ...
on
34th Street near the
Javits Center
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, commonly known as the Javits Center, is a large convention center on Eleventh Avenue between 34th Street and 38th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by architect James ...
. The West Side Line formerly extended south to a railroad terminal at
Spring Street Spring Street may refer to:
* Spring Street (Los Angeles), USA
* Spring Street (Manhattan), New York City, USA
* Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia
* Spring Street, Singapore
* Spring St (website), a US based lifestyle website
Subway and trolle ...
, just north of
Canal Street, and north to
35th Street at the site of the Javits Center. Due to a decline in rail traffic along the rest of the viaduct, it was effectively abandoned in 1980 when the construction of the Javits Center required the demolition of the viaduct's northernmost portion. The southern portion of the viaduct was demolished in segments during the late 20th century.
A
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
called
Friends of the High Line
The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field O ...
was formed in 1999 by Joshua David and
Robert Hammond, advocating its preservation and reuse as public open space, an elevated park or greenway. Celebrity New Yorkers joined in on fundraising and support for the concept. The administration of Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
announced plans for a High Line park in 2003. Repurposing the railway into an urban park began in 2006 and opened in phases during 2009, 2011, and 2014. The Spur, an extension of the High Line that originally connected with the Morgan General Mail Facility at
Tenth Avenue and 30th Street, opened on June 4, 2019, as the final part of the park to open.
Since opening in June 2009, the High Line has become an icon of American contemporary landscape architecture. The High Line's success has inspired cities throughout the United States to redevelop obsolete infrastructure as public space. The park became a
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
and spurred
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
development in adjacent neighborhoods, increasing real-estate values and prices along the route. By September 2014, the park had nearly five million visitors annually, and by 2019, it had eight million visitors per year.
Description
![Chelsea Market IMG 9040](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Chelsea_Market_IMG_9040.JPG)
The park extends for from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street.
At 30th Street the elevated tracks turn west around the
Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project
Hudson Yards is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan, bounded roughly by 30th Street in the south, 41st Street in the north, the West Side Highway in the west, and Eighth Avenue in the east.Chapter 11: Figures The area is the ...
to the
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on
34th Street,
As of 2014, it was expected that could be integrated with the Hudson Yards development and the
Hudson Park and Boulevard
Hudson Park and Boulevard is a greenway and boulevard in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, being built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project. It lies between 10th and 11th Avenues. The park, officially called Bella Abz ...
. When the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project's Western Rail Yard is finished in 2018 it will be elevated above the High Line Park, so an exit along the viaduct over the
West Side Yard
The West Side Yard (officially the John D. Caemmerer West Side Yard) is a rail yard of 30 tracks owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. Used to store commuter rail trains operated by t ...
will lead to the Western Rail Yard.
The 34th Street entrance is at grade, with wheelchair access.
The park is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in winter, until 10 p.m. in spring and fall, and until 11 p.m. in summer (except for the Interim Walkway west of 11th Avenue, which is open until dusk). It can be reached through eleven entrances, five of which are accessible to people with disabilities. The wheelchair-accessible entrances, each with stairs and an elevator, are at
Gansevoort,
14th, 16th,
23rd, and 30th Streets. Additional staircase-only entrances are located at 18th, 20th, 26th, and 28th Streets, and
11th Avenue. Street-level access is available at 34th Street via the Interim Walkway, which runs from 30th Street and 11th Avenue to 34th Street west of 11th Avenue.
Route
At the Gansevoort Street end (which runs north–south), the stub over Gansevoort Street is named the
Tiffany and Co.
Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, wat ...
Foundation Overlook
and was dedicated in July 2012; the foundation was a major supporter of the park. The route then passes under
The Standard, High Line
The Standard, High Line, formerly The Standard, is an 18-story luxury boutique hotel located at 848 Washington Street between West 13th and Little West 12th Streets in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, New York City. It stands above str ...
hotel
and through a passage at 14th Street.
At 14th Street, the High Line splits into two sides at different elevations;
the Diller-Von Furstenberg Water Feature (opened in 2010) is on the lower side, and a
sundeck
A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary or upper deck is the horizontal structure that forms the "roof" of the hull, strengthening it and serving as the primary working surface. Ve ...
is on the upper side.
The route passes through the west edge of the
Chelsea Market
Chelsea Market is a food hall, shopping mall, office building and television production facility located in the Chelsea neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. The Chelsea Market complex occupies an entire city block with a ...
(image above), a food hall, at 15th Street.
A spur, connecting the viaduct to the
National Biscuit Company
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco's ...
building and closed to the public, splits off at 16th Street.
The railroad tracks on the spur are left in situ but the trackbeds are planted with greenery. The Tenth Avenue Square, an
amphitheater
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
on the viaduct, is at 17th Street where the High Line crosses over Tenth Avenue from southeast to northwest.
At the 23rd Street
Lawn
A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...
, visitors can rest.
Between 25th and 26th Streets a ramp takes visitors above the viaduct, with a scenic overlook facing east at 26th Street. The
Philip Falcone
Philip A. Falcone is an American businessman and the founder of Harbinger Capital and LightSquared.ForbesProfile of Philip Falconeas of March 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013
Early life and education
Philip Falcone grew up in Chisholm, Minneso ...
and Lisa Maria Falcone
Flyover, named after two major donors to the park,
was based on plans for a Phase 1 flyover which was never built. Additionally, there was a second separate gravel pathway that separated from the main pathway at around 25th Street that ran on the viaduct below the ramp. The gravel pathway rejoined the main pathway at around 27th Street. The gravel pathway was initially open to the public at the time Phase 2 was completed but was subsequently closed. However, the pathway remains in view of the main pathway.
The park then curves west to Phase 3 and merges into the Tenth Avenue Spur, which stretches over 30th Street to Tenth Avenue.
The Tenth Avenue Spur is composed of three parts: the Coach Passage, with ceilings; the High Line's largest planted garden; and a plaza with temporary art exhibitions that get replaced every 18 months.
Phase 3 has another ramp taking visitors above the viaduct at 11th Avenue and a play area with rail ties and the Pershing Beams (modified,
silicone
A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking ...
-covered
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
s and
stanchion
A stanchion () is a sturdy upright fixture that provides support for some other object. It can be a permanent fixture.
Types
In architecture stanchions are the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horizo ...
s coming out of the structure), a gathering space with benches, and a set of three railroad tracks where one can walk between the rails. The play area also has a
seesaw
A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter or teeterboard) is a long, narrow board supported by a single pivot point, most commonly located at the midpoint between both ends; as one end goes up, the other goes down. These are most commonly found a ...
-like bench and a "chime bench", with keys which make sounds when tapped.
The Interim Walkway, from 11th Avenue and 30th Street to 34th Street divides the viaduct into two sides: a
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
walkway and an undeveloped section with rail tracks. The temporary walkway closed for renovation when the Tenth Avenue Spur was completed. The High Line turns north to a point just east of Twelfth Avenue. At 34th Street it curves east and descends, ending at street level midway between 12th and 11th Avenues.
, the High Line Moynihan Connector, a walkway from the Tenth Avenue Spur to
Moynihan Train Hall
Moynihan Train Hall is an expansion of Pennsylvania Station, the main intercity and commuter rail station in New York City, into the city's former main post office building, the James A. Farley Building. Located between Eighth Avenue, Nin ...
at Ninth Avenue, is being developed.
The planned spur would run east along 30th Street for one block to
Dyer Avenue
Dyer Avenue is a short, north-south thoroughfare in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, located between Ninth Avenue and Tenth Avenue. It is primarily used by traffic exiting the Lincoln Tunnel. Dyer Avenue runs bet ...
,
using a new structure called the Woodlands Bridge. The walkway would then turn north to 31st Street across the Timber Bridge. It would terminate to a public space within
Manhattan West
Manhattan West is a mixed-use development by Brookfield Properties, built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment. The project spans 8-acres and features four office towers, one boutique hotel, one residential building, of retail space an ...
that ends at the west side of Ninth Avenue, directly across from Moynihan Train Hall.
Attractions
![Highline NYC 3705376658 529a375621](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Highline_NYC_3705376658_529a375621.jpg)
The park's attractions include naturalized plantings, inspired by plants which grew on the disused tracks, and views of the city and the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
. The
pebble-dash
Roughcast or pebbledash is a coarse plaster surface used on outside walls that consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then thrown at the w ...
concrete walkways swell and constrict, swing from side to side, and divide into concrete tines which meld the
hardscape
Hardscape refers to hard landscape materials in the built environment structures that are incorporated into a landscape. This can include paved areas, driveways, retaining walls, sleeper walls, stairs, walkways, and any other landscaping mad ...
with plantings embedded in railroad-gravel mulch. "By opening the paving, we allow the plants to bleed through," said landscape architect James Corner, "almost as if the plants were colonizing the paved areas. There's a sort of blending or bleeding or suturing between the hard paving, the surface for people to stroll on, and the planting ... "
Stretches of track and ties recall the High Line's former use, and portions of track are re-used for rolling lounges positioned for river views. The 120-species plant palette,
curated by Dutch landscape architect
Piet Oudolf
Piet Oudolf (; born 27 October 1944) is a Dutch garden designer, nurseryman and author. He is a leading figure of the "New Perennial" movementhis designs and plant compositions using bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses which are cho ...
, includes sturdy
meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...
plants (such as clump-forming grasses,
liatris
''Liatris'' (), commonly known as gayfeather and blazing star. is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae native to North America (Canada, United States, Mexico and the Bahamas). Some species are used ...
, and
coneflowers) and scattered stands of
sumac
Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including Eas ...
and
smokebush
Smokebush may refer to
* the plant genus '' Conospermum'';
* the plant genus ''Cotinus'' (as "Smoke bush");
* the plant species '' Ptilotus obovatus'';
* the plant species '' Adenanthos sericeus'', but only in the cut flower industry;
* the plant s ...
and is not limited to
native plant
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...
s. At the Gansevoort Street end, a grove of mixed species of
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
provides shade by late afternoon.
Ipê
''Handroanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae.David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. It consists of 30 species of trees, known in Latin America by ...
timber for the built-in benches came from a managed forest certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council A. C. (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. It is an example of a market-ba ...
to ensure sustainability and the conservation of biological diversity, water resources, and fragile ecosystems. According to James Corner Field Operations, the High Line's design "is characterized by an intimate choreography of movement."
The High Line also has cultural attractions as part of a long-term plan for the park to host temporary installations and performances.
Creative Time
Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1974 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged artworks in the public realm, particularly in vacant spaces of historical and architectura ...
, Friends of the High Line, and the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
commissioned ''The River That Flows Both Ways'' by
Spencer Finch Spencer Finch (born 1962 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American artist. After attending The Hotchkiss School, he graduated '' magna cum laude'' with a B.A. in comparative literature from Hamilton College in 1985. Finch then pursued an M.F.A. ...
as the inaugural art installation. The work is integrated into the window bays of the former
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco's ...
factory loading dock as a series of 700 purple and gray glass panes. Each color is calibrated to match the center pixel of 700 digital pictures (one taken every minute) of the Hudson River, making up an extended portrait of the river. Creative Time worked with Finch to realize his site-specific concept after he saw the rusted, disused
mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s of the old factory, with metal-and-glass specialists Jaroff Design helping to prepare and reinstall.
A summer 2010 sound installation by
Stephen Vitiello Stephen Vitiello is an American visual and sound artist. Originally a punk guitarist he is influenced by video artist Nam June Paik who he worked with after meeting in 1991. He has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner) and ...
was composed from bells heard throughout New York. Lauren Ross, former director of the alternative art space
White Columns
White Columns is New York City’s oldest alternative non-profit art space. White Columns is known as a showcase for up-and-coming artists, and is primarily devoted to emerging artists who are not affiliated with galleries. All work submitted is ...
, was the High Line's first
curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
. During the construction of the second phase (between 20th and 30th Streets) several artworks were installed, including
Sarah Sze
Sarah Sze (; born 1969) is an American artist widely recognized for challenging the boundaries of painting, installation, and architecture. Sze's sculptural practice ranges from slight gestures discovered in hidden spaces to expansive installat ...
's ''Still Life with Landscape (Model for a Habitat)'': a steel-and-wood sculpture near 20th and 21st Streets built as a house for fauna such as birds and butterflies.
Kim Beck
Kim Beck (born 1970, Colorado) is an American artist living and working in New York City and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beck works in drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, printmaking and multimedia, focusing her attention on subjects tha ...
's ''Space Available'' was installed on the roofs of three buildings visible from the southern end. Three sculptures, resembling the armature of empty billboards and constructed like theater backdrops, looks three-dimensional from a distance. Also installed during the second phase of construction was
Julianne Swartz
Julianne Swartz (born April 29, 1967) is a New York-based artist who works with sound, kinetics, and other materials to make sculpture, installations and photographs. Swartz uses optics, magnetism, and the concepts of space and time in her body ...
's ''Digital Empathy'', a work utilizing audio messages at restrooms, elevators, and water fountains.
In 2012-13 the Ghanaian born Nigerian artist
El Anatsui
El Anatsui ( h-nah-ch-wee born 1944) is a Ghanaian sculptor active for much of his career in Nigeria. He has drawn particular international attention for his " bottle-top installations". These installations consist of thousands of aluminum piec ...
's large scale sculpture "Broken Bridge ll" (at the time his largest work to date) fashioned from recycled pressed tin and broken mirrors was positioned on a wall on the west side of the street between West 21st and West 22nd street facing and sidelining the High Line. In 2016
Tony Matelli's controversial sculpture "
Sleepwalker" was exhibited upon the High Line. In 2017 Max Hooper Schneider's aquarium was displayed on the passageway. In 2018 the High Line hosted the British sculptor
Phyllida Barlow
Dame Phyllida Barlow (born 4 April 1944) is a British artist. She studied at Chelsea College of Art (1960–63) and the Slade School of Art (1963–66). She joined the staff of the Slade in the late 1960s and taught there for more than forty y ...
's first public commission "Prop" which has been described as a concrete colossus.
History
Rail line
![Western Electric complex NYC 1936](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Western_Electric_complex_NYC_1936.jpg)
In 1847, the City of New York authorized the construction of railroad tracks along
Tenth and
Eleventh Avenues on Manhattan's West Side. The street-level tracks were used by the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
's freight trains, which shipped commodities such as coal, dairy products, and beef.
For safety the railroad hired "West Side cowboys", men who rode horses and waved flags in front of the trains.
However, so many accidents occurred between freight trains and other traffic that the nickname "
Death Avenue
"Death Avenue" was a nickname given to both Tenth and Eleventh Avenues on the west side of Manhattan, New York City in the 19th century.
In 1847, the City of New York authorized the construction of railroad tracks along Tenth and Eleventh Avenues ...
" was given to Tenth
and Eleventh Avenues.
In 1910, one organization estimated that there had been 548 deaths and 1,574 injuries over the years along Eleventh Avenue.
Public debate about the hazard began during the early 1900s.
In 1929 the city, the state, and New York Central agreed on the West Side Improvement Project,
conceived by New York City park commissioner
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
. The project eliminated 105 street-level railroad crossings, added to
Riverside Park, and included construction of the
West Side Elevated Highway
The West Side Elevated Highway (West Side Highway or Miller Highway, named for Julius Miller, Manhattan borough president from 1922 to 1930) was an elevated section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) running along the Hudson River in the New ...
.
The plans also included the construction of the
St. John's Freight Terminal at
Spring Street Spring Street may refer to:
* Spring Street (Los Angeles), USA
* Spring Street (Manhattan), New York City, USA
* Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia
* Spring Street, Singapore
* Spring St (website), a US based lifestyle website
Subway and trolle ...
, which was completed in 1936 and replaced the street-level
St. John's Park Terminal in present-day
Tribeca
Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stre ...
. The West Side Improvement cost more than $150 million,
worth about $ billion in dollars. The last stretch of street-level track was removed from Eleventh Avenue in 1941.
The first train on the High Line viaduct, part of New York Central's
West Side Line
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via ...
, ran along the structure in 1933.
The elevated structure was dedicated on June 29, 1934, and was the first part of the West Side Improvement Project to be completed.
The High Line, which originally ran from
35th Street to St. John's Freight Terminal,
was designed to go through the center of blocks rather than over an avenue.
As a result, the viaduct's construction necessitated the demolition of 640 buildings.
It connected directly to factories and warehouses, allowing trains to load and unload inside buildings. Milk, meat, produce, and raw and manufactured goods could be transported and unloaded without disturbing street traffic.
This reduced the load on the
Bell Laboratories Building (which has housed the
Westbeth Artists Community
Westbeth Artists Housing is a nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and arts organizations in New York City. The complex comprises the full city block bounded by West, Be ...
since 1970) and the former
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco's ...
plant in
Chelsea Market
Chelsea Market is a food hall, shopping mall, office building and television production facility located in the Chelsea neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. The Chelsea Market complex occupies an entire city block with a ...
, which were served from protected sidings in the buildings.
The line also passed under the
Western Electric
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...
complex at Washington Street. Although the section still existed , it is not connected to the developed park.
Abandonment
![HiLine W34 jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/HiLine_W34_jeh.JPG)
The growth of interstate trucking during the 1950s led to a drop in rail traffic throughout the U.S.
St. John's Freight Terminal was abandoned in 1960, and the southernmost section of the line was demolished in the following decade due to low use.
The West Village Apartments were then built on part of the former segment's
right of way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
.
The demolished section began at
Bank Street and ran down
Washington Street to
Spring Street Spring Street may refer to:
* Spring Street (Los Angeles), USA
* Spring Street (Manhattan), New York City, USA
* Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia
* Spring Street, Singapore
* Spring St (website), a US based lifestyle website
Subway and trolle ...
(just north of
Canal Street).
By 1978, the High Line viaduct was used to deliver just two carloads of cargo per week. The viaduct was shut down in 1980, when owner
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
had to disconnect the viaduct from the rest of the national rail system for a year. The closure was necessitated as a result of the construction of
Javits Center
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, commonly known as the Javits Center, is a large convention center on Eleventh Avenue between 34th Street and 38th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by architect James ...
at 34th Street, which required that the curve at 35th Street be rebuilt.
The last train on the viaduct was a three-car
consist
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
carrying frozen turkeys.
During the time the viaduct was disconnected, two large customers along the route moved to New Jersey.
The curve to the viaduct from 35th Street was demolished during the construction of Javits Center and was replaced by the current curve at 34th Street.
The tracks leading to the High Line were reconnected in 1981, but as there were no more customers along the route, the curve at 34th Street was never completed, and the viaduct did not see any further usage.
At this point, Conrail still owned the right of way and the tracks.
During the mid-1980s, a group of property owners with land under the line lobbied for the demolition of the entire structure. Peter Obletz, a Chelsea resident, activist, and railroad enthusiast, challenged the demolition efforts in court and tried to re-establish rail service on the line.
Obletz offered to buy the viaduct for $10 in order to run a small amount of freight trains on the line, and Conrail accepted, mainly because demolition would have cost $5 million. However, this offer was also disputed in court. By 1988, the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
was negotiating with Conrail for the possibility for using the line's
right of way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
to construct a
light rail route.
These negotiations did not proceed further, and by the end of the 1980s, it was expected that the High Line would be demolished.
As part of the construction of the
Empire Connection
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via ...
to
Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals.
Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to
Current train stations
* Baltimore Penn Station
* Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...
, which opened in spring 1991, the West Side Line tracks north of 35th Street were routed to the new Empire Connection tunnel to Penn Station. A small section of the High Line in the
West Village
The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City.
The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, 14th Street (Manhattan ...
, from
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
to
Gansevoort Street Gansevoort may refer to any one of the following:
__NOTOC__ People
*Guert Gansevoort (1812–1868), US Navy officer
*Harmen Harmense Gansevoort (ca. 1634–1709), early American settler, landowner and beer brewer
*Leonard Gansevoort (1751–1810), ...
s, was taken apart in 1991 despite objections by preservationists.
The remaining riveted-steel elevated structure was unused and in disrepair during the 1990s, but it remained structurally sound. Around this time, it became known to
urban explorers
Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inter ...
and local residents for the tough, drought-tolerant wild grasses, shrubs (such as
sumac
Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including Eas ...
) and rugged trees which had sprung up in the gravel along the abandoned railway. The administration of mayor
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
planned to demolish the structure.
The
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
approved plans to demolish the structure in 1992, but demolition was delayed due to disputes between various city government agencies and the railroad companies. Ownership of the viaduct ultimately passed to
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
in 1999.
Repurposing proposal
A
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
called
Friends of the High Line
The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field O ...
was formed in October 1999 by Joshua David and
Robert Hammond.
They advocated its preservation and reuse as public open space, an elevated park or
greenway similar to the
Promenade Plantée
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
The concept also drew inspiration from
Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord
Landschaftspark is a public park located in Duisburg- Meiderich, Germany.
It was designed in 1991 by Latz + Partner (Peter Latz), with the intention that it work to heal and understand the industrial past, rather than trying to reject it. The pa ...
, Germany — a precedent for urban and industrial repurposing in modern landscaping. The organization was initially a small community group advocating the High Line's preservation and transformation when the structure was threatened with demolition during
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
’s second term as mayor.
In 2000,
CSX Transportation gave photographer
Joel Sternfeld
Joel Sternfeld (born June 30, 1944) is an American fine-art color photographer. He is noted for his large-format documentary pictures of the United States and helping establish color photography as a respected artistic medium.
Sternfeld's work is ...
permission to photograph it for a year. Sternfeld's photographs of its meadow-like natural beauty, discussed in an episode of the documentary series ''Great Museums'', were used at public meetings when the subject of saving the High Line was discussed.
Mary Boone
Mary Boone (born c. 1951/1952) is an American art dealer and collector.
Life
Boone moved to New York City at the age of 19 from Erie, Pennsylvania to a working class family of Egyptian immigrants. She studied Art History at Rhode Island School o ...
's art gallery, as well as
Martha Stewart
Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pub ...
and
Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...
, hosted fundraising benefits for the High Line in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
Fashion designer
Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michele Halfin, 31 December 1946) is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as ...
(who had moved her New York City headquarters to the
Meatpacking District
The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District along ...
in 1997) and her husband,
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American businessman. He is Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. Diller was inducted into the Television Hall of ...
, also organized fundraising events in her studio.
In 2003, Friends of the High Line sponsored a design competition that attracted more than 720 participants from 38 countries.
Proposals included a sculpture garden, an elongated swimming pool, and a linear amusement park/campground.
In July 2003, Edward Norton and
Robert Caro
Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson.
After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote '' The Power ...
hosted a benefit event at
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
, where the submissions for the design contest were exhibited.
The same month, a bipartisan group of city officials began petitioning the federal
Surface Transportation Board
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...
to hand over title to the viaduct for park use. In anticipation of this handover, the administration of Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
announced plans for a High Line park that September. The following year, the New York City government committed $50 million to establish the proposed park. Mayor Bloomberg and
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
speakers
Gifford Miller
Alan Gifford Miller (born November 6, 1969) is the former Speaker of the New York City Council who represented the 5th district. Barred from seeking reelection due to term limits, the Democrat ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for ...
and
Christine C. Quinn were among the major supporters. Fundraising for the park raised a total of over $150 million (). The Surface Transportation Board issued a certificate of interim
trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...
use on June 13, 2005, allowing the city to remove most of the line from the national rail system. Ownership officially passed from CSX to the city that November.
Reconstruction and design
On April 10, 2006, Mayor Bloomberg presided over a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction. The park was designed by
James Corner James Corner (born 1961) is a landscape architect and theorist whose works exhibit a focus on "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." His designs of note include Fresh Kills Park on Staten Island and th ...
's New York-based
landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
firm Field Operations and architects
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by four partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo ...
, with
garden design
Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...
by
Piet Oudolf
Piet Oudolf (; born 27 October 1944) is a Dutch garden designer, nurseryman and author. He is a leading figure of the "New Perennial" movementhis designs and plant compositions using bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses which are cho ...
of the Netherlands, lighting design from
L'Observatoire International,
and engineering design by
Buro Happold
Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...
and Robert Silman Associates.
New York City Department of City Planning
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
director and city planning commission chair
Amanda Burden
Amanda Jay Mortimer Burden ( Mortimer; January 18, 1944) is a principal at Bloomberg Associates, an international consulting service founded by Michael Bloomberg as a philanthropic venture to help city governments improve the quality of life of ...
contributed to the project's development. Major supporters included
Philip Falcone
Philip A. Falcone is an American businessman and the founder of Harbinger Capital and LightSquared.ForbesProfile of Philip Falconeas of March 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013
Early life and education
Philip Falcone grew up in Chisholm, Minneso ...
, Diane von Fürstenberg, Barry Diller, and von Fürstenberg's children
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
and
Tatiana von Fürstenberg
Princess Tatiana Desirée von Fürstenberg (''Tatiana Desirée Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg''; born February 16, 1971) is an American art curator, singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and filmmaker.
Early life and family
Von Fürstenberg ...
.
Hotel developer
Andre Balazs, owner of the
Chateau Marmont
The Chateau Marmont is a hotel located at 8221 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The hotel was designed by architects Arnold A. Weitzman and William Douglas Lee and completed in 1929. It was modeled loosely after the Château d'Am ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, built the 337-room
Standard Hotel
Standard Hotels is a group of seven boutique hotels in New York City (Meatpacking District and East Village), Miami Beach, London, Maldives, Ibiza, and Hua Hin, Thailand. The hotels are operated by Standard International Management. The two origi ...
straddling the High Line at West 13th Street.
The southernmost section, from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, opened as a city park on June 8, 2009.
The section includes five stairways and elevators at 14th Street and 16th Street.
Around the same time, construction of the second section began.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on June 7, 2011, to open the second section (from 20th Street to 30th Street), with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City Council speaker
Christine Quinn
Christine Callaghan Quinn (born July 25, 1966) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she formerly served as the Speaker of the New York City Council. The third person to hold this office, she was the first female and first ...
, Manhattan Borough President
Scott Stringer
Scott M. Stringer (born April 29, 1960) is an American politician who served as the 44th New York City Comptroller. A Democrat, Stringer also previously served as a New York State Assemblyman, and as the 26th borough president of Manhattan.
I ...
and Congressman
Jerrold Nadler
Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...
in attendance.
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
, owner of the northernmost section from 30th to 34th Streets, agreed in principle to donate the section to the city in 2011;
the Related Companies
The Related Companies, L.P. is an American real estate firm in New York City, with offices and developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Abu Dhabi, London, São Paulo and Shanghai. Related has more than 3, ...
, which owns development rights for the West Side Rail Yards, agreed not to tear down the spur crossing 10th Avenue.
Construction on the final section was started in September 2012.
![Whitney Museum and end of High Line](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Whitney_Museum_and_end_of_High_Line.jpg)
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the High Line's third phase was held on September 20, 2014,
followed the next day by the opening of its third section and a procession down the park.
The third phase, costing $76 million, was divided into two parts.
The first part (costing $75 million)
is from the end of phase 2 of the line to its terminus at 34th Street, west of 11th Avenue.
The second part, a spur above
Tenth Avenue and 30th Street, has room to install artworks curated by the public art program.
The spur was scheduled to open by 2018,
but was then delayed to April 2019,
and later to June 2019. It opened on June 4, 2019, with the installation of a
plinth
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...
as its initial artwork.
It contains entrances to
10 Hudson Yards
10 Hudson Yards, also known as the South Tower, is an office building that was completed in 2016 in Manhattan's West Side. Located near Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea and the Penn Station area, the building is a part of the Hudson Yards urban renewal ...
, built above the spur.
The High Line closed temporarily in early 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirme ...
; while most parks remained open during the pandemic, the High Line is a linear park with few means to spread out for
social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
measures.
The High Line reopened on July 16, 2020, with limited capacity: the section between Gansevoort and 23rd streets were only open to visitors with timed-entry passes, and were only able to walk northbound from Gansevoort Street, with the other access points being for egress only. , weekend admissions still required a pass but weekday admissions did not.
On January 11, 2021, Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...
announced proposals to extend the High Line east to
Moynihan Train Hall
Moynihan Train Hall is an expansion of Pennsylvania Station, the main intercity and commuter rail station in New York City, into the city's former main post office building, the James A. Farley Building. Located between Eighth Avenue, Nin ...
and north to
Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...
.
The Moynihan Train Hall spur, was planned to cost $60 million and run east to Ninth Avenue. A second spur would diverge from the Phase 3 walkway at 34th Street, running north to the Javits Center and then turning west to cross the West Side Highway to Hudson River Park.
At the time of the spurs' announcement, neither of the projects had been funded.
[ As of September 2021, the Moynihan project was funded and was projected to be completed in early 2023 at a cost of $50 million.] A groundbreaking for the project occurred on February 24, 2022.
Friends of the High Line
The line is maintained by Friends of the High Line, which was founded by Joshua David and Robert Hammond. The organization is credited with saving the structure by rallying public support for the park and convincing Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
’s administration in 2002 to support the project by filing a request with the Surface Transportation Board to create a public trail on the site. Friends of the High Line played a role in the line's visual aesthetic, holding a competition in conjunction with the city of New York in 2004 to determine the design team which would lead the project. Since the park's opening in 2009, Friends of the High Line has had an agreement with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
to serve as its primary steward. The organization is responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of the park, with an annual budget of over $5 million. It has an annual operating budget of $11.5 million, in addition to capital construction and management and fundraising expenses.
Friends of the High Line has raised more than $150 million in public and private funds toward the construction of the first two sections of the park. Unlike the first two phases, to which the city significantly contributed, Friends of the High Line was responsible for raising funds for phase three (an estimated $35 million). The organization raises over 90 percent of the High Line's annual operating budget from private donations. When the city donated $5 million to the High Line in 2012, there was criticism that most city parks had received less funding that year, especially since Friends of the High Line had raised an extra $85 million that year.
The organization has an office on Washington Street, near the park's southern end. It has 80 full-time, year-round employees and about 150 full-time summer employees. Friends of the High Line has been run by president and co-founder Josh David after executive director Jenny Gersten stepped down in 2014. Co-founder Robert Hammond served as executive director until he stepped down in February 2013. Friends of the High Line has a 38-member board of directors consisting of many New York City businesspeople and philanthropists, including Amanda Burden
Amanda Jay Mortimer Burden ( Mortimer; January 18, 1944) is a principal at Bloomberg Associates, an international consulting service founded by Michael Bloomberg as a philanthropic venture to help city governments improve the quality of life of ...
of Bloomberg Associates, Jane Lauder
Jane Lauder Warsh (born 1973) is an American billionaire heiress and businesswoman.
Early life
Lauder is the daughter of Jo Carole Lauder (née Knopf) and Ronald Lauder. Her father served as United States Ambassador to Austria under President R ...
of Estée Lauder Companies, Jon Stryker
Jon Lloyd Stryker (born c. 1958) is an American architect, philanthropist, and billionaire heir to the Stryker Corporation medical technology company fortune.
As reported by Forbes, Stryker's net worth is estimated at $4.2 billion.
Stryker is t ...
of the Arcus Foundation
The Arcus Foundation is an international charitable foundation focused on issues related to LGBT rights, social justice, ape conservation, and environmental preservation. The foundation's stated mission is "to ensure that LGBT people and our fello ...
and Darren Walker
Darren Walker (born August 28, 1959) currently serves as 10th president of the Ford Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to human welfare. In June 2020, Walker led the Ford Foundation to issue a $1 billion designated social bond to stabi ...
of the Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
.
Impact
Since its opening, the High Line has become one of the most popular visitors attractions in New York City. By September 2014, the park had nearly five million visitors annually, and in 2019, it had eight million visitors per year. Most of these visits came from tourists; a 2019 study found that tourists made up four-fifths of the High Line's total visitor count. Residents quoted in ''The New York Times'' stated that the park has become a "tourist-clogged catwalk" since it opened, and one critic called a "tourist-clogged cattle chute".
Gentrification and development
The recycling of the rail line into an urban park and tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
has revitalized Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, which was "gritty" and in generally poor condition during the late twentieth century. It has also spurred real-estate development in the neighborhoods along the line. According to mayor Bloomberg, by 2009 more than 30 projects were planned or under construction nearby, and by 2016 more than 11 projects were under construction. It has also helped raise the value of properties directly adjacent to the High Line by an average of 10 percent over properties a few blocks away. At least 20 properties abutting the High Line have sold for at least $10 million since the park's opening in 2009, with an apartment in a building directly adjacent to the park selling for an average of $6 million. Apartments located near Phase 1 of the High Line are, on average, more than twice as costly as those between Seventh and Eighth Avenues (two blocks east). In August 2016, the park continued to increase real-estate values along it in an example of the halo effect
The halo effect (sometimes called the halo error) is the tendency for positive impressions of a person, company, brand, or product in one area to positively influence one's opinion or feelings in other areas. Halo effect is “the name given to t ...
.
Residents who have bought apartments next to the High Line adapted to its presence in various ways, but most responses were positive. However, many established businesses in west Chelsea have closed due to loss of their neighborhood customer base or rent increases. Chelsea has significant minority communities, many of whom live in two large public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
developments. In a 2017 interview, Friends of the High Line co-founder Robert Hammond said that he "failed" the community; the High Line did not fulfill its original purpose of serving the surrounding neighborhood, which had become demographically divided around the park.
Due to the High Line's popularity, several museums were proposed or built along its path. The Dia Art Foundation
Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumb ...
considered (but rejected) a proposal to build a museum at the Gansevoort Street terminus. On that site, the Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...
has built a new home for its collection of American art. The building, designed by Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...
, opened on May 1, 2015.
Crime
Crime has been low in the park. Shortly after the second section opened in 2011, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that there had been no reports of major crimes (such as assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
or robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
) since the first phase opened two years earlier. Parks Enforcement Patrols have written summons
A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative agency of governme ...
es for infractions of park rules such as walking dogs or riding bicycles on the walkway at a lower rate than in Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. Park advocates attributed this to the visibility of the High Line from surrounding buildings, a feature of urban life espoused by author Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...
nearly fifty years before. According to Joshua David, "Empty parks are dangerous ... Busy parks are much less so. You're virtually never alone on the High Line." In a review of the Highliner restaurant – which has now reverted to its previous name, the Empire Diner
The Empire Diner is a restaurant in New York City that launched a vogue for upscale retro diners, and whose art deco exterior became an iconic image in numerous films and television programs. It is located at the corner of Tenth Avenue and 22nd ...
– Ariel Levy wrote in ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' that... "The new Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
that is emerging on weekends as visitors flood the elevated park ... stouristy, overpriced, and shiny."
Projects in other cities
The High Line's success in New York City has encouraged leaders in other cities such as Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
mayor Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
, who sees it as "a symbol and catalyst" for gentrifying neighborhoods. Several cities nationwide have plans to renovate railroad infrastructure into parkland, including Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
's Rail Park, Atlanta's Belt Line, and Chicago's Bloomingdale Trail. The High Line has helped pioneer the creation of elevated park
An elevated park (sometimes known as a sky park) refers to a park located above the normal ground (street) level. This type of a park has become more popular in the early 21st century, featuring in a number of urban renewal projects. While usually ...
s worldwide.[ In ]Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, the Queensway (a proposed aerial rail trail) is being considered for reactivation along the right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
of the former Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
Rockaway Beach Branch
The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica ...
. Other cities around the world are planning elevated rails-to-trails parks in what a writer has called the "High Line effect".
According to some estimates, it costs substantially less to redevelop an abandoned urban rail line into a linear park than to demolish it. Landscape architect James Corner (who led the High Line's design team) noted that "The High Line is not easily replicable in other cities," however, observing that building a "cool park" requires a "framework" of neighborhoods around it to succeed.
In 2016, Friends of the High Line launched the High Line Network to support similar infrastructure re-use projects being developed in other cities. , there are 19 projects in the network, including River LA River LA is a nonprofit working on the revitalization of the Los Angeles River. The organization, formerly known as the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation, was founded in 2009 by the City of LA to coordinate river policy as part of the Lo ...
, the Atlanta Beltline, Crissy Field
Crissy Field is a public recreation area on the northern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula in California, United States, located just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. It includes restored tidal marsh and beaches.
Crissy Field is a former Un ...
, Dequindre Cut
The Dequindre Cut is a below-grade pathway, formerly a Grand Trunk Western Railroad line,[Dequindre Cut](_blank)
from the ...
, the Lowline, Klyde Warren Park
Klyde Warren Park is a public park in Downtown Dallas, Texas. The park is over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, and opened in 2012. It is named for Klyde Warren, the young son of billionaire Kelcy Warren who donated $10 million to the development of ...
, the Bentway
The Bentway, formerly Project: Under Gardiner, is a public trail and corridor space underneath the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is repurposed land that was in sections vacant , rail lines, parking lots and outdoor storage. ...
, Bergen Arches, Destination Crenshaw
Destination Crenshaw is an under-construction open-air museum along Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to preserving the history and culture of African Americans. The project includes new pocket parks, outdoor sculptures, ...
and the Trinity River Project The Trinity River Project is a public works project undertaken in the 2000s in the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. Its goal is to redevelop the Trinity River. The project aims to turn the river's path into a collection of sports fields, trail ...
.
In popular culture
The line has been depicted in a variety of media before its redevelopment. The 1979 film ''Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
'' includes a shot of the High Line as director and star Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
speaks the first line: "Chapter One. He adored New York City." Director Zbigniew Rybczyński
Zbigniew Rybczyński (; born 27 January 1949) is a Polish filmmaker, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, creator of experimental animated films, and multimedia artist who has won numerous prestigious industry awards both in the United Sta ...
shot the music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for Art of Noise
Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music ...
's single, "Close (to the Edit)
"Close (to the Edit)" is a single by English avant-garde synth-pop group Art of Noise, released on various formats in October 1984. It was closely related to their earlier single (and hip hop club hit) "Beat Box", though the two tracks were deve ...
" on the line in 1984.
In 2001 (two years after the formation of the Friends of the High Line
The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field O ...
), photographer Joel Sternfeld
Joel Sternfeld (born June 30, 1944) is an American fine-art color photographer. He is noted for his large-format documentary pictures of the United States and helping establish color photography as a respected artistic medium.
Sternfeld's work is ...
documented the High Line's flora and dilapidation in his book, ''Walking the High Line''. The book also contains essays by writer Adam Gopnik
Adam Gopnik (born August 24, 1956) is an American writer and essayist. He is best known as a staff writer for ''The New Yorker,'' to which he has contributed non-fiction, fiction, memoir, and criticism since 1986.
He is the author of nine books ...
and historian John R. Stilgoe. Sternfeld's work was regularly discussed and exhibited during the 2000s as the rehabilitation project developed. Alan Weisman
Alan H. Weisman (born March 24, 1947) is an American author, professor and journalist.
Education and career
Weisman was born on March 24, 1947, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He holds a bachelor's degree in literature and a master's degree in jou ...
's 2007 book, ''The World Without Us
''The World Without Us'' is a 2007 non-fiction book about what would happen to the natural and built environment if humans suddenly disappeared, written by American journalist Alan Weisman and published by St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books. It i ...
'', cites the High Line as an example of the reappearance of the wild in an abandoned area. Kinetics & One Love's 2009 song, "The High Line", uses the line (before its conversion to a park) as an example of nature's reclamation of man-made structures.
A number of films and television programs have utilized the High Line since the park opened. In 2011, the television series ''Louie Louie may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Louie'' (American TV series), by comedian Louis C.K.
* ''Louie'' (French TV series), animated series about a young rabbit who draws pictures which come to life
* "Louie" (song), by Blood Raw
* ''L ...
'' used it as a setting for one of the title character's dates. Other works with scenes on the High Line since its conversion include ''The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' 2012 episode " Moonshine River" and the 2012 film, ''What Maisie Knew
''What Maisie Knew'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''The Chap-Book'' and (revised and abridged) in the ''New Review'' in 1897 and then as a book later that year. It tells the story of the sensitive daughter of divorc ...
''.
See also
*10-Minute Walk
The 10-Minute Walk, also known as the 10-Minute Walk to a Park, refers to a grassroots parks-advocacy movement to ensure that everyone in the United States lives within a ten-minute walk to a high-quality park or green space. The effort was adopt ...
* Camden Highline
* Coulée verte René Dumont, Paris, France
* List of linear parks
A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linea ...
* List of rail trails in the United States
This is a list of notable rail trails in the United States.
Multi-State
* East Coast Greenway
* Great Allegheny Passage
* Great American Rail-Trail
* Yellowstone Branch Line Trail
Alabama
* Chattahoochee Valley Railroad Trail
* Chief Lad ...
*Min Hi Line
Min Hi Line is a proposed linear park and shared-use path that would eventually re-purpose an active rail and agri-industrial corridor in the Longfellow community of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Modeled after successful projects like t ...
*Park conservancy
A park conservancy is a type of private, non-profit organization in the United States, that can support the maintenance, capital development, and advocacy for parks or park systems. These organizations raise money through a variety of means to care ...
Neighborhoods, developments, and places nearby
*Meatpacking District, Manhattan
The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District alon ...
*Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River and West Street to the west, and Sixth Avenue to the east, with its northern b ...
**Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...
* Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...
* Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project
Hudson Yards is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan, bounded roughly by 30th Street in the south, 41st Street in the north, the West Side Highway in the west, and Eighth Avenue in the east.Chapter 11: Figures The area is the ...
** 15 Hudson Yards
** The Shed (Hudson Yards)
The Shed (formerly known as Culture Shed and Hudson Yards Cultural Shed) is a cultural center in Hudson Yards, Manhattan, New York City. Opened on April 5, 2019, the Shed commissions, produces, and presents a wide range of activities in perfor ...
** West Side Rail Yard
References
Further reading
*
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External links
*
* .
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