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The first of a weekly blog series by our horticulturist Melissa Fisher:

 

Recently, we rode the ferry across to Staten Island and traveled by taxi to one of the Parks Department's best-kept secrets, the Greenbelt Native Plant Center.

Here, hundreds of native plants, including this White Snakeroot, Eupatorium rugosum, are being grown for Section 1 of the High Line (Gansevoort - 20th Streets). Greenbelt is also storing thousands of seeds collected on the High Line in 2006 by volunteers. Some of this seed, including that of Little Bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium, will be grown for planting in Section 2 (20th - 30th Streets.)

A while back, we got to thinking that our office operations should reflect the values inherent in the High Line itself, as well as our own staff's personal commitment to environmental conservation. Recently, two larger non-profits built themselves new LEED certified offices (NYC Audubon Society and the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment). We got jealous.

Amanda Burden, Chair of the New York City Planning Commission, has long been a supporter of the High Line-- she sheparded through the 2005 West Chelsea Rezoning which allowed its preservation. And excellence and hard work was recognized recently.

The handsomest factories and warehouses around the High Line got a kiss from the city on March 18, when the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) calendered a proposal for a new industrial historic district in West Chelsea.  When the LPC calendars a proposal, it has a high chance of being approved.  The hearing is scheduled for May 13.  Read the LPC's statement about the district after the jump.

There are many people and groups who've helped make this happen, most notably New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who provided crucial leadership on this initiative, as she has done on so many other important projects in our neighborhood (including the High Line!).  State Senator Tom Duane also championed the effort, as did the Society of the Architecture of the City.  That said, the historic district was originally the brainchild of a longtime Chelsea resident and Community Board 4 member, Ed Kirkland.  Ed has been pushing for this historic district for years -- it's one of many ways this dedicated preservationist and tireless community activist has worked to ensure that the most valuable historic resources of our community are maintained.

We're excited about this district, because it joins the High Line's preservation in demonstrating the importance of preserving industrial architecture and infrastructure.  Some of the buildings in the district are among our favorites in the High Line neighborhood, including the Starrett-Lehigh Building, the New York Terminal Warehouse Company's Central Stores, and many others.

 

Other buildings in the proposed district include: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Freight Warehouse; the RC Williams Warehouse; the Cornell Iron Works, and the Reynolds Metal Company.

Read the LPC's statement about the district after the jump.

 
Crain's came out with their annual 40 Under 40 list  yesterday, and the High Line's own Robert Hammond made the cut.

Boston may own New York in baseball, but in regards to creative re-development of disused behemoths of the mid-20th century, they may be woefully behind Gotham. Consider Sunday's Times article describing the slow evolution of the park being built atop the Big Dig where Boston's old Southeast Expressway used to run.

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Friends of the High Line (FHL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and reuse of the High Line, a 1.5-mile-long historic elevated rail structure on the West Side of Manhattan.