Thriving success project: New York’s High Line turns 15 years old
Published: Friday, Jun 7th 2024, 08:30
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Once an elevated train line, the High Line is now a thriving park and one of New York's top tourist attractions. On Saturday, the project will be 15 years old - and has found imitators worldwide.
The park on New York's High Line almost never happened. The demolition of the dilapidated former elevated train line in southwest Manhattan was already a done deal, but Joshua David and Robert Hammond didn't give up. The neighbors had met at a community meeting in 1999, where many people had spoken out in favor of the demolition. "I stuck around after that and tried to find someone else who also wanted to save the High Line," Hammond recalls. "There was no one, except for the guy sitting next to me. He said his name was Josh."
The elevated line was built in 1934 so that freight trains could deliver their goods directly to the upper floors of the factories and warehouses on the west side of Manhattan. However, as more and more trucks were later used instead of trains, the line was used less and less. The last train ran in 1980 - with frozen turkeys on board. After that, the line decayed and with it the neighborhoods around it, soon characterized by a stinking meat industry, mountains of waste, street prostitution, crime and drugs.
Celebrities collected millions
But David and Hammond developed a version together: the High Line was to become a park. They took legal action against the demolition, mobilized celebrities such as actor Edward Norton and designer Diane von Fürstenberg, raised millions - and were ultimately successful. On June 8, exactly 15 years ago, the first section of the High Line was reopened as a park - and immediately became a huge success, changing urban planning thinking worldwide and finding imitators around the globe.
Following the opening of the southern section of the High Line in 2009, the northern section was added in 2014. In 2019, the last side branch "The Spur" was also renovated and connected to Penn Station in 2023 with a newly built route. The tracks have remained in many places, but asters, petunias and goldenrod bloom in between, paths and benches can be found - and panoramic views of the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, for example, open up over a distance of around 2.5 kilometers.
There are food stalls, guided tours of the flower beds, free sports courses, stargazing, concerts and activities for children. The upkeep, amounting to several million dollars a year, is financed by donations and city grants. "We have created a new way of thinking about public space in New York and everywhere else," says founder David.
Lots of art
This also includes a lot of art: with ever-changing installations and works, often created especially for the High Line, the interest of New Yorkers never wanes. Among others, a Statue of Liberty with a comic face by Italian artist Paola Pivi, a pink tree by Swiss artist Pamela Rosenkranz and a work by Hamburg-born artist Julia Phillips have already generated enthusiasm. Philips mounted binoculars on the High Line and connected them to cameras - so that the eyes of the person looking through the binoculars could be seen large on a screen next to them.
More than seven million people walk along the successful project every year - so many that there is almost a permanent traffic jam on sunny days. The High Line has also long since completely changed the neighborhoods around it. In particular, the Meatpacking District, where it begins, and Chelsea, where it runs through, have become expensive trendy districts where celebrities and high earners move. New luxury residential towers, haute couture stores, galleries, cafés and expensive restaurants characterize the carefully renovated streets.
The "Standard" hotel built across the High Line is one of the hippest in the city, the Whitney Museum, which has moved down from the Upper East Side, now attracts visitors at the southern end of the High Line, while Hudson Yards, a completely new luxury high-rise district, has been built at the northern end. This is not good news for everyone; many people and store owners could no longer afford the high rents and had to move away.
Trend towards more exercise and nature
The High Line stands for a general trend towards more nature and movement in New York, New York Senator Charles Schumer once said. "We used to build subways and turn farms into neighborhoods. Now we're building parks." The High Line has long since become one of the most recognizable tourist attractions in the metropolis. "People used to say: "If you go to New York, you have to see the Empire State Building." Today they say: "If you go to New York, you have to walk the High Line."
©Keystone/SDA
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