New York City Vacation # 02
Walking the High Line
Written
by Dan McDonald
I
discovered New York City’s High Line from words and photographs in Vivienne
Gucwa’s New York through the Lens. I instantly knew I wanted to walk the
High Line.
What
is the High Line? It is likely New York City’s most unique park. It has
history, scenery, and is a young creation still taking shape. It preserves a
piece of New York City’s history, while exuding the possibility of what
personal initiative and community activity can accomplish.
The
High Line was originally an elevated freight train line built along Manhattan’s
West Side. It was built in 1934 when the West Side was an industrial and
production oriented portion of Manhattan. The elevated freight line ran from 14th
Street in Manhattan’s southern meat packaging area to 34th Street in
the midst of Manhattan’s Garment district. The freight line was built to meet a
need of the production facilities in the area in a way that would not further
add to New York City’s growing transportation congestion problem.
It served its
purpose for several decades, but by 1980 things had changed. There were fewer
production facilities in the area and the interstate highway system had led
much of previous generations’ rail freight to be hauled by the growing trucking
industry. In 1980 an engine pulled three freight cars loaded with frozen
turkeys. That was the final freight run on the High Line. Plans were put in
place to have the line demolished. But David Obletz, a nearby resident of the
Chelsea neighborhood objected. He sought to use the courts to turn the High
Line into public use property. From 1980 until as late as 1999 the High Line
stood without finalized plans for its future.
In 1999, nearby
residents Joshua David and Robert Hammond founded an organization known as
“Friends of the High Line.” They sought to convince the city to make the
elevated rail line into a walking park. They helped design plans for the park
and created momentum which led to the city doing economic studies on the
feasibility of turning the High Line into a city park. The park began to be
planned and was funded by public and private funding. The first part of the
park was opened in 2009 and the full area of the park was opened to the public
on September 21, 2014. Improvements are still being added to the park. On
Saturday May 23, 2015 I walked the High Line from its 34th Street
northern end to its 14th Street southern end. I also walked it back.
The photographs I show are mostly in order from the northern to the southern
ends of the park. It is a wonderful walk full of history, scenery, and a
testimony to what the spirit of community can accomplish in a modern city.[i]
At the park entrance there are remnants
of the freight line,
while people can now enjoy the historic
High Line’s new function.
A walking area has replaced the freight
line but historic patches of the line are maintained.
Built along the western areas of
Manhattan, there are sometimes views of the Hudson River
New Jersey is on the other side of the
Hudson River from Manhattan
The waters are patrolled by NYC Police
There are still plenty of trains on
Manhattan’s West Side.
And in the background places like the
Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building
But now on a nice day hundreds of
people enjoy the scenes of the park
Sometimes there are reminders of this
area’s working class past
And
Sometimes there are rails you can walk
on like some of us balanced on as kids
Sometimes there are places, like any
park where you can sit and relax
There are advertisements of how the
West Side is being changed from its working class roots
And reminders of a not long ago past
And scenes of what the new is to look
like
There is
something gained but also something lost. It is called gentrification when an
area that has deteriorated is renewed and turned into residences for those who
can afford luxury residences. The poorer and working classes who once lived
here can often no longer afford to live within the neighborhoods they may have
called home for decades.
One sees the olden wooden water towers
atop tall buildings. They are not mere antiques.
Elevated water towers remain a good way
to provide water pressure
So New Yorkers can shower, flush their
toilets, and keep water moving.
The elevated height gives one a different
perspective of New York’s streets
There are wide places on the High Line
where street performers perform
And some couples find a way to ignore
the performers.
The park is evolving as you watch
artists painting a mural along the way.
Visitors are invited to be a part of
what the park is becoming
If calling a walkway a park seems a
stretch there is a scene like this
A Church finds its nearness to the High
Line a good place to invite visitors
At the southern end of the Line, we remember
the meat packing industry
There are buildings with beautiful
architecture before the skyscrapers
And the city streets below are filled
with people on a pleasant day
The pathway even contains word of
wisdom for those who come this way
Near the south end we are again
reminded of the High Line’s original use
A plaque reminds us of those who helped
make this park a reality
Something wonderful has been created
here!!!
I believe
in the new heavens and earth we will see a beautiful liturgical harmony of
human creativity replying to the beauty of the creation in which God has placed
us. Until then perhaps we can seek to create beauty as a foretaste of that
liturgical perfection.
[i]
Information about the history of the High Line and the park’s coming into being
is drawn from the Friends of the High Line website. www.thehighline.org
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