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Plant of the Week: Mars Midget pincushion plant

June 03, 2013
Author: 
Erika Harvey
Categories: 
Horticulture
Plant of the Week
Popping up from the High Line’s planting beds are the deep red blooms of Mars Midget pincushion plant. This long bloomer will be on-view through the fall. Photo by Beverly Israely
 

The High Line’s planting design is inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew up between rail tracks after the trains stopped running in the 1980s. Today, the High Line includes more than 300 species of perennials, grasses, shrubs, and trees — each chosen for their hardiness, adaptability, diversity, and seasonal variation in color and texture. Some of the species that originally grew on the High Line’s rail bed are reflected in the park landscape today.

This week we share with you one of our gardeners’ current favorites.

Photo of the Week: Carol Bove at the Rail Yards

May 31, 2013
Author: 
Erika Harvey
Categories: 
Photo of the Week
Photography
High Line Art
High Line at the Rail Yards
Rail Yards
Carol Bove's sculpture, Prudence, contrasts with the lush green spring foliage and hard architectural elements of the High Line at the Rail Yards. Photo by Steven Severinghaus
 

The 2013 season of High Line Art includes a variety of new commissions, including contemporary takes on urban monuments, the longest video ever made, and a fascinating installation of sculptures by artist Carol Bove, entitled Caterpillar, in the third and final section of the High Line at the Rail Yards.

Public walks kicked off in mid-May and will continue for a year, allowing visitors to view the fascinating sculptures of Caterpillar scattered amongst the self-seeded landscape of the High Line at the Rail Yards. This magical photo of one of Bove's pieces, Prudence, was captured by High Line Photographer Steven Severinghaus during an early evening walk after a thunderstorm, when the vegetation was at its greenest.

SEE MORE PHOTOS of Carol Bove's installation at the High Line at the Rail Yards.

If you would like to see Caterpillar, we will begin taking reservations for tickets on Tuesday, June 18, at 4:00 PM. Tickets will be available for walks taking place between Thursday, August 8, and Saturday, September 28. Learn more about this last opportunity to explore the High Line at the Rail Yards before it is turned into public parkland.

Faces Behind the Food: Amanda Meister of Sigmund’s Pretzels

May 30, 2013
Author: 
Ana Nicole Rodriguez
Categories: 
High Line Food
Amanda Meister
Sigmund’s Pretzels
pretzels
faces behind the food
#shareameal
“Growing up, unlike most families who plan the day around attractions in the area, mine planned the day around where we were going to eat,” says Amanda Meister of Sigmund’s Pretzels.
 

Whether she’s discussing what makes the best pretzel or how to build the best boat, Amanda Meister, manager of Sigmund’s Pretzels, brings a sense of joy to her work. Meet Amanda in our second installment of Faces Behind the Food. For hours and locations of all of our vendors, see High Line Food.

Tell us about yourself and your passion for food and drink, including any fun or unusual facts that we might not know. (Any secret talents, perhaps?)

Enlarge

I stumbled upon Sigmund’s Pretzels a year ago at a local beer festival where I tasted what was the most amazing pretzel of my life. A couple months later, I joined the company. I am a total foodie and couldn’t turn down the offer to work this great business. Growing up, unlike most families who plan the day around attractions in the area, mine planned the day around where we were going to eat. We penciled in other activities in-between meals. I love good food! I also have a love of sailing, which is why I like our location on the High Line that overlooks the river.

An Excerpt from 'Eat the City' by Robin Shulman

May 29, 2013
Author: 
Anonymous
Categories: 
Robin Shulman
food
tours
Eat the City
History
West Side Cowboy
Meatpacking District
From Shulman's Eat the City: “The High Line, an elevated freight line, had to be constructed from Thirty-Fourth Street down to Spring Street, cutting right inside of warehouses to make second-story meat deliveries.” In this image, the High Line runs through the former Cudahy Meatpacking plant. Photographer unknown.
 

Journalist Robin Shulman, author of  Eat the City, will lead a unique walking tour of the High Line’s fascinating food history on Wednesday, June 5. To whet your appetite for Robin’s tour, we’ve included an excerpt from her book below. Learn more about ‘Eat the City’ High Line Meat Tour and purchase tickets today.

In the 1870s, the Chicago clearinghouses shipping beef and pork to East Coast cities realized it would be cheaper to send dead meat than live steers. They built massive stockyards and slaughterhouses where they could “disassemble” cows and pack the carcasses to travel efficiently. In a leap of technology, they harvested ice from the Great Lakes and stored it in stations along the train routes to cool the meat they sent in rail cars all the way to eastern cities. Prices went down, and Harper’s Weekly heralded a new “era of cheap beef.”

Plant of the Week: Mt. Everest ornamental onion

May 29, 2013
Author: 
Erika Harvey
Categories: 
Plant of the Week
Horticulture
Late spring at the High Line is dominated by showy Allium blooms. The Chelsea Grasslands, between West 17th and West 20th Streets, is an especially good place to observe a variety of Alliums including Mt. Everest ornamental onion. Photo by Steven Severinghaus
 

The High Line’s planting design is inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew up between rail tracks after the trains stopped running in the 1980s. Today, the High Line includes more than 300 species of perennials, grasses, shrubs, and trees — each chosen for their hardiness, adaptability, diversity, and seasonal variation in color and texture. Some of the species that originally grew on the High Line’s rail bed are reflected in the park landscape today.

This week we share with you one of our gardeners’ current favorites.

Photo of the Week: Double-Take

May 24, 2013
Author: 
Erika Harvey
Categories: 
Photo of the Week
Photography
High Line Art
Two visitors on a rainy day are surprised by Human Statue (Jessie). Photo by Oliver Rich
 

High Line Art's newest group exhibition, Busted, has been turning heads in the park.

Busted features commissions from nine international artists, all playing with the popular tradition of urban monuments and civic landmarks that have defined public spaces for centuries. Pieces range from the abstract and conceptual, to interpretive portraits and the hyper-realistic.

New York-based artist Frank Benson's commission, Human Statue (Jessie), features a life-like bronze statue of a woman atop a small pedestal, poised with arms gently open. Her placement in an outdoor setting like the High Line has caused many visitors to do a double-take, mistaking her for a living statue performer. Sit long enough on the Diller – von Furstenberg Sundeck and you'll surely hear someone say something like, "I've seen many street performers, but she's really good."

High Line Photographer Oliver Rich captured one such interesting interaction here, as two visitors are surprised by Jessie's presence on a rainy day.

Download a printable High Line Art map.

Faces Behind the Food: Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina

May 23, 2013
Author: 
Ana Nicole Rodriguez
Categories: 
High Line Food
Fany Gerson
La Newyorkina
paletas
faces behind the food
Ana Nicole Rodriguez
Fany Gerson, the chef and owner of LaNewyorkina, shows off her skills to some of our younger guests at the Seating Steps, on the High Line at West 22nd Street. Photo by Rowa Lee
 

From a bride and groom eating coconut paletas to what happens when kids walk away with the toppings, Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina shares her favorite customer memories in our new weekly series, Faces Behind the Food. For hours and locations of all of our vendors, see High Line Food.

Tell us about yourself and your passion for food and drink, including any fun or unusual facts that we might not know. (Any secret talents, perhaps?)

Enlarge

I love making people happy and creating memories with food, which is why I am the proud owner and chef of La Newyorkina. I have been a chef for over ten years and have loved food my whole life. When I was one year old, my father gave me two dozen chocolate truffles as a present, not realizing I would eat almost all in one sitting! We often have visitors from far away like New Zealand, Australia, and Israel that come to the stand to tell us a friend of theirs told them they had to taste our paletas. That means the world to me, especially because they get to experience part of my culture, which is a mission of mine.

Moving On: A Special Tribute to Danya

May 20, 2013
Author: 
Kate Lindquist
Categories: 
Danya Sherman
Community Engagement
Public Programs
Staff
Photo by Tom Kletecka.

Later this season, Danya Sherman, our Director of Public Programs, Education & Community Engagement, will be moving on from Friends of the High Line to pursue a graduate degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.

Though she will stay with us through June to help transition her successor, we want to take a moment to reflect on her positive impact and share our personal experience working with her.

Follow us after the jump for photos and anecdotes from the High Line community.

Plant of the Week: Purple Smoke wild indigo

May 20, 2013
Author: 
Erika Harvey
Categories: 
Plant of the Week
Horticulture
This month, stop by to enjoy the pale purple flowers of Purple Smoke wild indigo, in bloom at West 16th and West 18th Streets.

The High Line’s planting design is inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew up between rail tracks after the trains stopped running in the 1980s. Today, the High Line includes more than 300 species of perennials, grasses, shrubs, and trees — each chosen for their hardiness, adaptability, diversity, and seasonal variation in color and texture. Some of the species that originally grew on the High Line’s rail bed are reflected in the park landscape today.

This week we share with you one of our gardeners’ current favorites.

23rd Street Lawn Re-Opens for the Season

May 18, 2013
Author: 
Jennette Mullaney
Categories: 
the lawn
Spring
23rd Street Lawn
sustainability
Horticulture
compost
Spring really is here: the 23rd Street Lawn is open. Photo by Navid Baraty.

Get ready for some serious people-watching. The 23rd Street Lawn has officially re-opened for the busy season ahead. Pack a picnic, slide on your darkest shades (better for people-watching), and head out to the High Line to enjoy the park’s one and only lawn.

Like last year, the 23rd Street Lawn will be open Wednesdays through Sundays. The grass needs to recover after entertaining guests all weekend—an average of eighty-thousand during the summer months—which makes it necessary for us to close the Lawn on Mondays and Tuesdays*. This is just one of the many challenges of maintaining such a popular green space. “It’s really hard to keep it looking good and green with so much traffic throughout the summer,” says High Line Gardener Maeve Turner. Using organic products, she’s developed a program that’s kept the Lawn healthy since its grand opening in 2011.

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