More New York City: The High Line

Aside from the September 11th Memorial, what I really wanted to see was the High Line.

There’s not really a lot to say about it, it is awesome. A linear park threading through the city up above the streets.

There has been some push back, the area the High Line runs through had been what many would consider run down. The Meat Packing District was once a place where meat was packed and after the abattoirs left auto shops and other similarly non-glamourous businesses moved in. The High Line has been followed by a wave of gentrification.

So while boutiques and galleries and trendy bars have moved in”¦

“¦the old businesses are being squeezed out. Except, the High Line is high in the sky, the hoards of tourists that visit it don’t drop back down to street level very often. So the gentrifiers are now find that they are having a hard time of it as rents have gone up but the customers have not arrived.

In fact what struck me about the High Line, aside from the fact that it is beautiful and awesome, is that it is a great piece of transportation infrastructure. If you’re not stopping to gawk and have coffee and take pictures, there’s really no faster way to walk 19 blocks uptown than the High Line. Being up in the air means no interaction with the streets, no stopping every block to wait for the light, you just walk. If people take to it as a means of transportation, then they are not going to patronize the businesses beneath it.

I’m sure the gentrification will continue and more people will begin living and working in the neighborhood and the business climate will stabilize. It will stabilize at a state that is much different than it was before the High Line, but the Meat Packing District was gentrifying way before the High Line came along.

So now on with the pretty pictures:

We took the subway downtown and boarding the High Line (if you will) at West 23rd Street.

West 23rd Street, one of the main entrances to the High Line with both stairs and an elevator.

From West 23rd Street we walked south.

Obligatory Empire State Building photo.

Frank Gehry designed IAC Building at West 18th Street.

10th Avenue Square sits directly above the avenue.

Recycling

Looking down at 10th Avenue.

There’s no reason to explore the trendy bars down on the ground because there is a trendy bar up on the High Line.

This is a fountain, there is water moving across the sidewalk here and in slightly warmer weather I assume people kick off their shoes and dip their feet.

Service vehicle

The Standard Hotel straddles the High Line at West 13th Street.

Stairs at the southern end near Gansevoort Street.

We walked back up to and beyond West 23rd Street:

And at the current northern end at West 30th Street: