New York City’s High Line
Cost: $0
Just about every hyper-metropolitan city has, or had, at one point or another, an elevated train system. Some still do. Chicago has the “EL,” (short for elevated), San Francisco has the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and New York had the High Line.
History of the High Line
In the 1840s, Manhattan was largely an industrial island, and street level railroads were constructed on the west side waterfront to transport meat, produce and dairy products up and down to factories and warehouses in the Meat Packing District and beyond. Giant coal powered locomotives created both efficiency and safety issues that could only be addressed with a different type of railroad, a High Line. Soaring 25 feet above street level, this mass of steel and concrete was built by New York Central Railroad between 1929 and 1934. It stretched from Spring Street to 34th Street. This railroad served its purpose well, with accidents and traffic issues dropping to nearly zero during its day; however, in the 1950s a sharp decrease in manufacturing occurred in Manhattan, and with it, the once mighty High Line fell into disuse.
The High Line sat, dormant and rusting, for almost 40 years until 1999, when the CSX railroad (the High Line’s owner) commissioned a “repurpose study” for an alternative use of the rail. In 2005, following collaboration with the City of New York and Friends of the High Line, CSX donated the structure to the City, opening the door to a “park in the sky.”
High Line Today
Today, the High Line has become a poster child for urban recycling. This structure, once a gargantuan eyesore for NYC, has become an amazing marriage of earth, art and architecture.
Botanical explosions of flowers and forest consume the High Line, and outdoor art by famous artists such as: Olafur Eliasson and Adrian Villar Rojas, jump out from the most unsuspecting places. There are dozens of areas of architectural and artistic interest. Several of our favorite include: outdoor theatre seating for a view of an ordinary street; a fountain statue for water bottle replenishment; an under track children’s playground made from converted steel works; an exhibit called “The Collective Project,” where two tons of white Legos are continuously reassembled by the public for a collective cityscape. Throughout the 1.45 mile structure, walkable exposed rail and girders appear up and down the High Line.
Dining on the High Line is very civilized. You won’t find hotdogs, hamburgers, french fries or Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Instead the food court, the underside of a building artfully constructed over the tracks years ago, contains gourmet creations that will sooth even the most finicky palette.
The “park in the sky” is an amazing combination of nature and design, using brick, cement, wood, glass, steel and art, integrated effortlessly with the bounty of nature that has been carefully developed all around. The High Line is a must see for anyone visiting New York City.
