2. Exploring The High Line – most original urban park in America
I found this place in the internet when I was surfing and looking for “something not very popular and special on Manhattan” but it was popular indeed. A lot of people were walking there at the same time. Anyway, I still recommend the place. It is really unusual, especially for those who love trains.
They have many events which you can find on The High Line website. They have Blue Bottle Coffee shop what is also nice. In June it was cold coffee, but I believe in autumn it is even better to enjoy a cup of hot espresso.
And as for now this is amazing to see how it looked like in 1930’s in their blog. If you are going to visit the High Line, check the old pictures before and try to spot those places. i could not do it now.
The High Line (also known as the High Line Park) is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33 km) New York City linear park built in Manhattan on an elevated section of a disused New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line. Inspired by the 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) Promenade plantée (tree-lined walkway), a similar project in Paris completed in 1993, the High Line has been redesigned and planted as an aerial green way and rails-to-trails park.
The High Line Park uses the disused southern portion of the West Side Line running to the Lower West Side of Manhattan. It runs from Gansevoort Street – three blocks below 14th Street – in the Meatpacking District, through Chelsea, to the northern edge of the West Side Yard on 34th Street near the Javits Convention Center. An unopened spur extends above 30th Street to Tenth Avenue. Formerly, the West Side Line went as far south as a railroad terminal to Spring Street just north of Canal Street; however, most of the lower section was demolished in 1960, with another small portion of the lower section being demolished in 1991.
With the opening of the High Line Park, many films and television shows have set sequences there. In 2011, the television series Louie used the High Line as a setting for one of the title character’s dates. Other works to set scenes on the High Line since it opened include the HBO series Girls, the Simpsons episode “Moonshine River“, and the film What Maisie Knew.
Jumping on the rails
The trail is made of pebble-dash concrete walkways that swells and constricts, swings from side to side, and divides into concrete tines that meld the hardscape with the planting embedded in railroad gravel mulch. Stretches of track and ties recall the High Line’s former use. Portions of track are adaptively re-used for rolling lounges positioned for river views.
Some cute private small gardens which you could spot while walking on The High Line
Check the previous one
#1 of TOP 10 What I Did in New York This Summer – sunrise on Manhattan’s fire escapes stairs
High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky
