The High Line

We just came back from a quick weekend in NYC, so, of course, this week's post will talk about the greatest city in the world and one of its latest stunning projects.

The High Line is a public park built on a 1.45-mile-long (2.3 km) elevated rail structure running from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street on Manhattan’s West Side. Previously, the High Line was a freight rail line, in operation from 1934 to 1980. It carried meat to the meatpacking district, agricultural goods to the factories and warehouses of the industrial West Side, and mail to the Post Office.

The area has been taken over by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation where a non-profit organization ‘Friends of the High Line’ builds and maintains this incredible public space. 

On June 8 2011, Section 2 of the High Line opened to rave reviews and acclaim. As covered in the New York Times, Mayor Michael Bloomberg claimed that shortly before the opening of Section 2 the High Line had already generated $2 billion in private investment in and around the Meatpacking District of New York–nearly eight times the High Line’s original revenue-generation estimates.The mayor pointed to the deluxe apartment buildings whose glass walls press up against the High Line and the hundreds of art galleries, restaurants and boutiques it overlooks. All of that commerce makes up for the $115 million the city has spent on the park and the deals it has made to encourage developers to build along the High Line without blocking out the sun, Mr. Bloomberg said. On top of the 8,000 construction jobs those projects required, the redevelopment has added about 12,000 jobs in the area, the mayor said.

The High Line has become one of the most popular destinations of the city. Tourists and New Yorkers can take in city views, while strolling amid gardens dotted with prairie grasses, wildflowers, and the remains of the rusted tracks—a perfect union of old and new, urban decay and natural beauty.