The High Line Preservation & Public Space

The High Line is a city greenway originally constructed in the early 1930s as a safer alternative part of New York's West Side railway. Extending from the Meatpacking District on the Lower West Side to West 34th Street, level with the Empire State Building, the High Line covers 22 blocks.  Since its April 2006 groundbreaking, the innovative re-use project has been showered with praise, spurring visitors and nearby retail and residential development. The design by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro consists of a long meandering walkway lined with grass, plants, and trees, with seating and multiple entry/exit points.

"New Yorkers always dream of finding open space—it's a fantasy when you live in a studio apartment," [Joshua David, a freelance writer] David said. "We just wanted to fight Giuliani to keep it from being demolished," Hammond said. "But preservation was only the first step, and we began to realize that we could create a new public place."

High Line Rail Raising

The High Line, Manhattan | April 10, 2006

© Copyright New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

The High Line once stretched farther into lower Manhattan, often passing right through factories. That southernmost section was torn down in the 1960s, long before any thought of turning the line into a park.
National Geographic "Miracle Above Manhattan" April 2011

Not long ago, the entire length of the High Line was an unkempt jumble of weeds and wildflowers. The third and last segment, to the north of 30th Street, still is.
National Geographic "Miracle Above Manhattan" April 2011

An abandoned rail line has become an elevated park known as the High Line. Dense plantings at the southern end heighten the contrast with the old steel structure as well as with the cityscape. The Standard Hotel, one of three buildings that cross over the High Line, is on the right.
National Geographic "Miracle Above Manhattan" April 2011


Sources:
National Geographic "New York's High Line" April 2011
NYCGovParks.org