With a sunny Friday afternoon free in February in New York City, I decided not to wander from my usual hotel to Central Park: but instead to take the Westbound bus across Manhattan to the Jacob Javits Convention Center, and from there to stroll in a new park I’d read about on a previous visit, but hadn’t had the chance to visit.
This park is quite unusual in that it’s not a wide expanse of grass. Instead, this is an elevated section of railway track that was formerly used to connect factories and warehouses to the rail network. The original rail track opened in 1934, and allowed rail freight wagons to roll straight into buildings above street level, giving a huge decrease in accidents between freight trains and road traffic. The last train ran in 1980, and a few years later many property owners of land underneath the line called for its demolition. Some local residents recognised the opportunity to create an unusual and welcome public space, and lobbied for it to be turned into a park.
Not all of the High Line park is yet open to the public; I arrived at the Convention Center a few months too early, as the park is only open from 20th Street south to Gansevoort Street. The part from 20th up to 30th Street opens in spring 2011, with the plan to open it eventually to the West Side Yard next to the Convention Center.
However, walking along 34th Street, just south of the Convention Center, and then following the track southbound along the regular sidewalk, it’s possible to see part of the line in its original state, but now with weeds growing through the sleepers as the track curves south. This sight will presumably be lost when the park is fully opened and made pedestrian friendly. The architects of the park are trying to keep memories of the 25 years of abandonment since the trains stopped running by basing their planting plans on the natural landscape that grew between the tracks, and with photographs of how it used to look.
Finally reaching 20th Street, where I could climb the 30 foot or so staircase to get onto the High Line, I was immediately conscious of how different the park was to any other park I have been to in New York. It’s not simply because of its shape, being based simply on the route of the original train tracks, but also due to the thoughtful layout of plants, lights and benches, an elevation that gives you a good view of the surrounding streets, the different smells and sounds wafting around as you walk through the park, and a sense almost of isolation, looking down on some busy streets from a peaceful park. There are still some meatpacking companies operating in the Meatpacking district, though many of the building have been turned into art galleries, studios and restaurants.
There are areas in the park where the original rail tracks have been left in situ, and it’s possible also to see where the tracks had formerly entered buildings. In many ways, it’s possible to imagine how things were when the line was operating, as many of the visual clues have been intentionally left.
Further south in the park, there’s a tall building that is built above the old railway lines. I assumed that it housed some expensive apartments, as from the park I could see people on bikes and running machines on the top floor looking out over the Hudson River as they exercised. I later found out that the building is actually a boutique hotel, the Standard Hotel.
A short walk later, a large viewing platform marks the southern end of the park, as the elevated railway tracks had already been demolished.
National Geographic calls the park a 'Miracle in Manhattan... a wonderful idea was not only realized but turned out better than anyone had imagined'– and this is a perfect description of the park.
For a very nice way to spend a relaxing couple of hours doing something quite different in Manhattan, I recommend walking the High Line. I’m heading back as soon as I am in the city again.
First published in VISA 98 (Aug 2011)
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