Sunday, August 29, 2010

The High Line


Earlier this month when in NYC for the BlogHer Conference, my sister and I walked through one of the city's newest parks, The High Line. Built along the route of an old, elevated railway adjacent to the Hudson River on Manhattan's lower west side, the park preserves the feel of the old railway yet surrenders the space for a public park. Concerned citizens came together with a vision to preserve this run down part of the city extending from 14th to 30th streets. The project progresses in stages; we walked the portion completed from W 14th to W 20th Streets. The final plan includes parkway up to W 30th Street in the second phase.

This park delights. Artwork, native plants, preserved portions of old train track, clever public seating; wind tunnels that catch the natural breeze on a warm day; this park offers up the works. We were smitten and seriously impressed.

The High Line website offers a link to the public art of the park. My favorite, and the topic for another blog post, would be Spencer Finch's The River that Flows Both Ways (the Indian word for the Hudson River is Muhheakuntuck, referring to the natural flow of the river in two directions). More about this coming....the artist attempts to explore the "impossible quest for the color of water."  Ahhhhh. That would also be a quest of mine but in words.

The High Line....a great place to visit.

1 comment:

  1. So glad you enjoyed the High Line, Kate. It's one of my favorite places in New York. I just loved the way the city is reinventing itself.

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