News

Image by Jody Lee Lipes.

On Friday, September 10, 2010, Friends of the High Line hosted a free, open-air screening on the High Line of “NY Export: Opus Jazz,” the film adaption of Jerome Robbins' groundbreaking 1958 "ballet in sneakers." Conceived by dancers from the New York City Ballet and shot on location in New York City, the film consists of five movements celebrating the energy and emotion of youth in New York City, including a duet, called "Passage for Two," which was shot at sunset on the High Line at the West Side Rail Yards. A question-and-answer session with the dancers and producers of the film followed the screening.

On Tuesday, September 7, 2010, Friends of the High Line debuted Demetrius Oliver's Jupiter, a major public art commission combining original photography, music performances by The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and stargazing with the New York chapter of the Amateur Astronomers Association on the High Line. Visit our Event Calendar to learn more.

Image created by James Corner Field
Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro,
courtesy the City of New York.

Tonight's public program, ¡Arriba! Mambo & Salsa on the High Line!, will take place in the Chelsea Market Passage on the High Line.

The area, between 15th Street and 16th Street, is covered and will allow the event to take place rain or shine.

For more information about this program, visit our Events Calendar.

High Line at the Rail Yards Volunteers.

Friends of the High Line is working with the City of New York, under the leadership of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, to preserve the entire High Line, from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street, and transform it into an extraordinary and inspiring public park. The High Line at the West Side Rail Yards represents one-third of the entire historic structure, but it is not yet secured for public use.

But thanks to the visionary leadership of City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and the City Council members, the future of the High Line at the rail yards is looking bright. On Thursday, July 29, 2010, the New York City Council voted to approve the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) application that gives the City of New York permission to acquire the High Line at the
West Side Rail Yards.

While the successful completion of the ULURP process does not guarantee full preservation, it is a major, positive step in the right direction. Friends of the High Line has always envisioned transforming the entire High Line into continuous public open space. Thank you to Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn, and the City Council, as well as Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Planning Chair Amanda Burden, Community Board 4, and our supporters who showed their support throughout the ULURP process for bringing Friends of the High Line one step closer toward that goal.

Our rail yards advocacy and programming is generously supported by the LuEsther T. Mertz Advised Fund, The New York Community Trust, Greenacre Foundation, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 counties.