marc frydman

“Section one of the High Line opens mid-June and is about a half mile long. There are five entry points, at Gansevoort, 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th Streets, with elevators at 14th and 16th Streets.”   (via)

I’m a huge fan of the High Line and put together some notes about the project a few months back…

In the mid 1800’s the ships, trains, factories, and warehouses made the West Side of Manhattan America’s premier working waterfront. So much so, that they built a street level railroad down Manhattan’s West Side to allow traffic between NYC and Albany. The railroad was the cause of so many pedestrian and horse accidents that 10th Ave. became known as “Death Avenue”. The city’s fix, a 22 block long High Line in which the trains would travel above ground, going through the center of blocks, even into buildings, to avoid creating the negative feeling that elevated subways bring. And, it allowed for the trains to pull right into the buildings of factories and warehouses ridding the need for any street level traffic.

Since 1999 the Friends of the High Line have been advocating for the preservation and reuse of the structure as public park space. It has become very residential on the West Side and will continue to, and there is a ridiculous lack of park space for the amount of people. Constructed in the early 1930’s, the High Line spans from 34th Street to Gansevoort Street. It is 1.45 miles long, has 6.7 acres of space atop elevated rail deck, is 30-60 feet wide, 18-30 feet high and was built to support 2 fully loaded freight trains. I feel that using this space to create a public park would enhance an already improving neighborhood, and in my eyes could be the next best thing to Central Park.

Once the High Line is transformed to be an open public space there will be a beautiful, tranquil and green area for people to go, with views of the Hudson River, the Manhattan skyline, and secret gardens inside city blocks as you’ve never seen them before.