New York, the city that never sleeps...Recently my better half and I spent a 2 day weekend in our favorite city visiting the Museum of Natural History, (the Dinosaurs were great!) seeing a fantastic off-Broadway show, (Altar Boyz) and then a trip to the fog surrounded Empire State Building. That was Saturday.  Sunday found us traveling down to lower Manhattan to visit the Highline.

Before I get into that, let me say that I'm always fascinated by the progress and ongoing remodeling that happens in New York City. Yes, I would say remodeling because New York is always renewing, tearing down old buildings and putting up new ones. Taking existing spaces and converting them to new ones. 

About six months ago, I came across a blurb about an interesting project in New York that upon visiting the website, really caught my attention. Below is a short description that I copied from the High Line website.

The High Line is a New York City park, built on an elevated 1930s freight rail structure on Manhattan’s West Side. The High Line’s landscape was designed by James Corner Field Operations, in partnership with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, to echo the wild, self- seeded landscape that grew up on the structure after the trains stopped running.

Built in the 1930s to remove dangerous freight trains from Manhattan’s streets, the High Line delivered milk, meat, produce, and raw and manufactured goods into upper-floor loading docks of factories and warehouses. The last train ran on the High Line in 1980, carrying a trainload of frozen turkeys.

 What follows is a picture story of our visit to the High Line on a beautiful, sunny, September Sunday. Consider that there are possible lessons about design, the mixing of materials and reusing something once thought to be past it's useful life.

The beginning of the High Line where we started our visit.

(Image from the High Line website.)

Neat touches abound such as this aluminum railing cap, with easy to read directions engraved into the top.

Concrete, steel, wood and the bounty of nature

The stone work intertwined with the grasses is cast concrete and gravel is floated to the top during the pouring process.  

 Tracks that once rumbled with freight are now a sculpture of a bygone era.

 The steel and wood ties provide a human element to this garden that flourishes with color.

Flowing up out of the pavers below, benches fabricated from concrete, aluminum and wood provide spots to relax and take in the view or engage in people watching.

A very large building straddles the High Line

 Here you can see the building that sits over the High Line.

From a designers perspective, this is a fascinating mix of materials. Here you can see concrete in the path, steel tracks embedded in the concrete. The ramp is aluminum and the handrails are stainless steel. To the left you can see brick which above contains glass panels as you will see in the next picture. Up in the left, you see plants, grasses and trees: sitting within a bed of soil, gravel and the wood of the railroad ties.

This wall of "Art glass" represents the color of  the water over a period of a day's travel down the nearby Hudson river.  This is located within the Chelsea Market area.

We saw a number of commercial photo shoots taking place along the High Line,  Here many folks were hanging out at the 10th Avenue Square while this model and photographer were taking advantage of the scenery and the gorgeous weather.

10th Avenue Square overlooks one of New York's ever busy streets. Notice the photo shoot from the previous picture? 

I enjoyed looking at the cool railings situated along the High Line. 

One of the more popular features we saw, were the wooden sun chaises that roll on the train tracks. We saw several groups of people enjoying a picnic and a glass of wine while taking in the view, engaging in people watching or reading the New York Times.

Freight used to roll through the wall you see in the background. On the left, you can see one of the many volunteer gardeners who donate their time and labor to keep the gardens on the High Line blooming.

One of the many views from the High Line. You can see Lady Liberty in the distance in the middle of the photo.

This is a water spigot that are placed along the High Line, I appreciated how the design channeled excess water towards the plantings.

Section 2 of the High Line is been remodeled and the final section which involves the West Side rail yards, is under regulatory review.

Both my wife and I truly enjoyed out visit to the High Line and plan to return whenever we are in NYC.  To see something that was once considered an eyesore be remodeled and recreated for millions of visitors to enjoy is an inspiration!

To find out more, visit the High Line website: thehighline.org/