The High Line was an abandoned 1.5 mile section of elevated freight railroad tracks that ran along the west side of Manhattan between 34th Street and Gansevoort Street in the West Village/Meat Packing District. The High Line was built in the early 1930s and freight trains ran along the West Side tracks until 1980. After the last train, the railroad closed up the access points to the elevated structure and abandoned it.
The High Line ran along mostly industrial neighborhoods in the 1980's and early 90's - auto repair shops, warehouses, and meat packing/distributing companies. Therefore, the elevated tracks were pretty much left alone - people dumped trash out of their windows onto it and trees and grass started to grow. Infamous Club Kid killer Michael Alig found a way up to the tracks and threw an "Outlaw Party" one night - until the cops busted it up. But since the High Line was well above the street, most people didn't even think about it...
By the mid 1990s, Manhattan real estate values were skyrocketing and developers were threatening to purchase and demolish the entire structure. Friends of the High Line was founded in 1999 by Joshua David and Robert Hammond, two people who lived in the neighborhood but had never met each other. The Friends of the High Line was formed to advocate for the High Line's preservation and reuse as public open space. The group gained powerful supporters on the West Side and in City Hall, and after a long struggle they were able to achieve their goal of making the High Line a peaceful public space above Manhattan's busy streets. Here is a sketch of the design plan for "the end of the line"...
Personally, I saw the old, rusty High Line almost every Saturday night from 1993 to about 1997 on my way to the Roxy nightclub (which was right beside the tracks). In fact - it is said that the Roxy was closed so an apartment building (which would take advantage of the views of the renovated High Line) could be built in its place. But the Roxy (the graffiti-covered building below) still lays vacant to this day - the apartment building was never built due to the recession.
Yesterday the ribbon was cut for the first section of the High Line Park (Gansevoort to 20th St.) - and today it officially opens to the public. According to Joe.My.God:
During peak periods, access to the facility would be limited to the southernmost entrance at Gansevoort Street and interested visitors would receive wristbands permitting admission to the park at allotted hours. Eventually, Bradley said, a live web link will allow people to check the park’s availability prior to making the trek west. “One of the things that we’re uncertain about is the number of visitors that we’re going to get,” Bradley explained, “so we’re putting in place a plan — which we’re not going to start unless we need to — where we’ll control access to the park.” While Friends of the High Line manages the project, the Parks Department is in charge of providing security.And, as JMG said, leave it to a park in Manhattan to have a doorman and bouncers. Here are pictures from yesterday's "sneak preview"...
To learn more about the High Line, please go HERE.
