High Line Blog

Curbed.com is running it's annual Curbed Cup and this year they are focusing on the year's most newsworthy microneighborhoods. The High Line District made the 1st round -- and we're up against Hudson Square near Soho (?).

At the corner of Gansevoort Street and Washington Street, the High Line's southern terminus marks one of the parks major access points and gathering spaces. This corner is also the future location of the Whitney Museum of American Art. A paved, street-level public plaza will act as a meeting and orientation point for visitors to learn more about the High Line and will also house a small concessions area. An opening cut into the structure of the High Line allows for a steel and aluminum stair, supported by a stainless-steel rod hanger system, to gently touch the plaza level. The stair invites visitors to ascend from the busy street below to the elevated landscape on the High Line. While on the stairs, visitors pass between existing six-foot high beams, giving one a better understanding of the High Line's robust structure.

A few weeks ago, the High Line's signature "slow stairs" were delivered and installed. See a few of the images below after the break:

The 1930's Federal Writers Project WPA Guide to New York City, which I love, has a great description of the Hudson waterfront during the time the High Line was built. From the chapter "West Street and North (Hudson) River Waterfront":

"The broad highway, West Street and its continuations, which skirts the North River from Battery Place to Fifty-ninth Street, is, during the day, a surging mass of back-firing, horn-blowing, gear-grinding trucks and taxis. All other water-front sounds are submerged in the cacophony of the daily avalanche of freight and passengers in transit. Ships and shipping are not visible along much of West Street. South of Twenty-third Street, the river is walled by an almost unbroken line of bulkhead sheds and dock structures. North of Twenty-third Street, an occasional open spot in the bulkhead permits a glimpse of the Hudson and the Jersey Shore beyond."

The turn-out of High Line supporters for Monday's Eastern Rail Yards Public Forum was great: more than 200 people rallied at Midtown's Red Cross in favor of preserving the entire High Line, including the Spur over 10th Avenue. Supporters wore red "Save the Spur" T-shirts and held signs during a presentation by The Related Companies, the designated developer at the rail yards.