New York - NYC High Line - 1

Photos along the High Line


Photos progress northward.


The developers of the park thoughtfully left plenty of keepsakes from its railroad past, even as the park slowly subsumes them (as designed). It's really appreciated.


Looking back south at the first building I passed through. Very interestingly, buildings grew up over the High Line instead of just around it. While in some cases this facilitated deliveries along elevated sidings, it also meant a lot of soot, heat, and noise passing through the buildings several times a day. I've never heard of any tragedies involving the High Line so I assume nothing ever came of that concern. It's something you don't see elsewhere in the city (e.g. over former or current els) because those other areas are mainly residential, and people most certainly would not want to live over a 24-hour railroad line.


The next building gets very interesting, with several sidings crossing 10th Avenue to serve it and connections between the west and east sides of the street and railroad. In the siding cut-through, Spencer Finch installed artwork entitled "The River that Flows Both Ways", referring to the tidal nature of the lower Hudson. He took one pixel from a digital photograph each minute of a particular day and assembled that pixel (the caption did not specify, but I assume it was the same one in every photo) in chronological order. It just looks like a happy rainbow to me.


The north side of that building has a roll-down gate to the left of the main tracks for a former elevated siding (now just part of the park). The old signal remains as a curio after more than 30 years of inactivity.


There are other art installations up here. The second one, which actually ranges along the length of the High Line, was installed by Julianne Swartz. When it works, it's intended to pipe music and happy messages to the user. Sorry, there's no water at this fountain, but push the button for some love. Hope it satisfies your thirst. Sorry, there's no elevator here, but you can ride the heart up and down. Just make sure to show your love to the other two people trapped with you. Sorry, there are no bathrooms here, but if you drank too many hearts at the fountain or got motion sickness from riding the heart, you can deposit your excess hearts in the lavatory. (Actually, all of these facilities are supposed to be functional - but then again, so is the installation, which was decidedly inactive during my visit.)


And this little crossover went to market. Chelsea Market.


Looking back south from the Market at everything I just passed.


The High Line crosses 10th Ave. at 17th St., which is where you finally stop being insulted by God being too busy for your prayer. (It's a poorly conceived ad for a parking facility.)


Two looks forward, one look back.


Look carefully. These are bird houses. Not birdhouses. They each resemble modern human dwellings.


After the main path separates from the railroad bed (still accessible by gravel garden paths), this is just about the end of the park. The main High Line curves sharp left at 30th St. and then curves right next to 12th Ave. (right next to the former West Side Highway), curving right once more to end at 34th St./11th Ave. The spur line/siding branches east over 10th Ave. Neither one was accessible to the public in 2012, but now both the spur and mainline are fully converted to park space. (The spur opens sometime in 2015, and I'm writing this in June 2015, so just bear with the short overlap.)


Last look south at the part of the park I just walked.


A pair of split views of the spur line.


At the end of the line, I'm afforded a small corner to look down at the restored steel trestle structure underlying the park.

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