living the high life...

On a trip to New York just two weeks ago, a friend introduced me to something new and exciting on the city’s west side- The High Line. Someone once said that what they loved about New York City is how it always changes on you, and I would have to add that it keeps changing for the better. This project reflects some real vision for a public space.

First the background… In the late 1840s, the City laid a line of rail road tracks down the west side that went on to cause so many deadly accidents that 10th Avenue became known as Death Avenue. Finally in 1930, an elevated rail road was built, The High Line, eliminating 105 street-level rail road intersections (and saving many lives in the process). This elevated rail track was in continued use until the 80s, when rail road traffic had diminished considerably and the line was unnecessary. (tidbit- they say the last trainload to run down the High Line was in 1980, carrying three carloads of frozen turkeys). The rail sat in disrepair for years afterwards.

By about the year 2000, neighborhood leaders were advocating for a reinvention of this rail track for public use, and it has finally come to fruition. The High Line is open to the public between Gansevoort and 20th, creating a unique juxtaposition of sleek modern walkways and seating with naturalistic plantings, almost meadow-like in places. At any time on any given day, the High Line can be filled with sunbathers on sleek teak loungers, children purchasing ice cream cones, groups of people watching a performance or taking a yoga class, and workers choosing to make their commute to the office a little more pleasant by walking this route instead of on the street below.

It is being built in stages, and the first has only just been completed. But when it is done, it will be a mile-and-a-half-long elevated park, running through the West Side neighborhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell's Kitchen.

An event not to be missed… Chefs Dinner to Benefit Friends of the High Line

Friends of the High Line is the conservancy charged with raising private funds for the park and overseeing its maintenance and operations. This chef’s dinner, organized by Chef Tom Colicchio of Craftsteak (and my favorite Top Chef), will be a fabulous al-fresco evening of dinning on the highline with multiple amazing chefs. I can’t imagine anything better than dinner under the stars in New York in early October when the weather is just beginning to turn cool and more than half a dozen NYC chefs have prepared your meal, all for the good cause of urban revitalization.

Check it out… http://www.thehighline.org/events/all/2009/10/chefs-dinner-to-benefit-friends-of-the-high-line