This past weekend, my DH and I explored the High Line Park in Chelsea. The High Line is a NYC public park built on a historic (previously abandoned) freight rail line in the Chelsea area of Manhattan’s West Side.
The High Line itself was built in the 30s as part of the West Side Improvement, a huge public-private infrastructure project. The 13 mile long rail eliminated 105 dangerous street-level crossings (the area around 10th Avenue had become known as “Death Avenue” for the number of train-related fatalities) and cost more than $2 billion in today’s money.
The High Line quit running in 1980 and fell into disrepair. When it was set to be demolished in 1999, a group called Friends of the High line worked with the City to preserve and maintain it as a public park. The High Line is now one of the most popular parks in the city and draws people from all over the globe.
I heard about it a couple of years ago, way before I moved here, when a project to renovate the Low Line/Delancey Underground (the High Line’s underground counterpart located at the abandoned Delancey station) was attempting to get off the ground. I haven’t heard much more about the Low Line other than it needs funding, but I hope it goes somewhere. The drawings are stunning.
On to the pictures.
Gastography 