High Line (New York City)

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The southern end of the High Line on Washington Street in the Gansevoort Market Historic District

A portion of the High Line running through Chelsea Market (15th Street and 10th Avenue) which connects to an adjacent building.

The High Line is the name of a project to restore a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) section of the elevated railroad tracks of the West Side Line, along the lower west side of New York City borough of Manhattan. The High Line (40°44.9′N 74°0.3′W) has been abandoned since 1980 and was in a state of extreme disrepair, although the elevated structure is basically sound. Wild grass and trees grow along most of the line, making it a natural oasis in urban Manhattan.

Community groups were established leading to plans to turn the High Line into an elevated park or greenway, similar to the Promenade Plantée in Paris. In 2004, the New York City government promised to invest $50 million in the proposed park. On June 13, 2005, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board granted a certificate of interim trail use, allowing the city to remove the line from the national railway grid. On April 10, 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over a groundbreaking ceremony, marking the beginning of construction on the High Line project.

[edit] Museum site

A site at the 34th street entrance to the High Line was considered for a museum by the Dia Art Foundation, but has decided against it. The Whitney Museum is now seriously considering the site as an alternative to an addition it has been planning at its uptown location.[1]