High Line Blog

Taken last month, this photographs shows construction crews lifting pallets of Roman brick from the courtyard onto the building’s fourth floor. Photo by Melissa Mansur

When you visit the park’s southern terminus this month, you will see the future home of maintenance and operations at the High Line taking shape. When it opens next year, the four-story building, called the High Line Headquarters, will provide critical space for High Line staff and park equipment, as well as a public elevator, public restrooms, and a public programming room.

Join us after the jump for more photos and an update on construction.

With your help, we can bring holiday cheer to more than 300 local kids this year!

Today we kick off the High Line Holiday Toy Drive in partnership with Hudson Guild, Fulton Youth of the Future, the New York City Housing Authority, Posman Books, and Chelsea Market Baskets. For the next two weeks, stop by Chelsea Market at designated times to drop off a toy or make a financial contribution. All toys and monetary donations will go toward holiday gifts for local families in need.

Learn more after the jump.

Photo by Jim Shaughnessy

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we’re reminded of a fun fact from the High Line’s industrial past. As legend has it, in 1980, after years of declining use, the final train chugged down the elevated railway, carrying three carloads of frozen turkeys.

The High Line’s gray birch trees offer a last burst of fall color on the park’s landscape.

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.