The High Line
8 Feb
The High Line is one example, in a growing list of examples, of NYC’s dedication to creative, well-maintained outdoor space. Besides the huge swaths of land dedicated to Central Park and Prospect Park, New York has recently undertaken the Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier Renovation and will be renovating McCarren Park. There are even future plans to make Governor’s Island into an Eco Park. (Check out the ideas here!). In a city where living quarters can be cramped and limited, it’s imperative to have a variety of outdoor spaces for catching up with friends, enjoying an outdoor concert or activity, or simply for getting some fresh air. For all of NYC’s density, it is surprisingly easy to find a space for reflection or quiet conversation.

Running through Chelsea, the Meat Packing District, and Hell’s Kitchen (spanning Gansevoort Street to 34th Street on Manhattan’s West Side), the High Line was a working freight train track from the 1930s-1980, created in ‘order to remove dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan’. In 1999, Friends of the High Line was formed to turn the decrepit structure into a public elevated park.
The team of James Corner Field Operations, a landscape architecture firm, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, an architecture firm, concentrated on making the space both natural and cohesive. In 2006, a preliminary design was even shown at the MoMA.



