How can the High Line be a good neighbor? It’s a question core to achieving our mission, and so, it’s one we’re asking ourselves all the time. As a park and a nonprofit devoted to working with communities on and off the Line to reimagine the role public spaces have in creating connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities, we know that this starts with prioritizing the immediate communities and neighborhoods through which our 1.45-mile-long park runs. To do just this, we meet monthly with our partners on the High Line’s Neighbors Council.

Our Neighbors Council is a group of committed stakeholders who represent a diverse cross-section of community members living, working, and studying in and around Chelsea. Made up of local residents and business owners, High Line Teens staff and alumni, and representatives from community-based partner organizations, the Neighbors Council provides an opportunity for the High Line to deepen its neighborhood relationships, discuss ideas that inform areas of focus, and collaborate on local joint initiatives. Every year, we come together to identify critical community issues that the High Line can support through the Neighbor to Neighbor Fund, and for the 2024 awards, the Neighbors Council highlighted the critical work of organizations welcoming families who have recently immigrated to our city.

In recent years, New York City has seen a significant influx of immigrants, and Manhattan City Council District 3—home to Chelsea and the High Line—has welcomed thousands of recent newcomers. For their incredible work in fostering a sense of belonging in our community, we are proud to award a collective $25,000 to our partners at PS11, Quest to Learn, and UnLocal. To our Neighbors Council, it was clear that these institutions have made an important impact in embracing our neighborhood’s newest New Yorkers, and we’re excited to help bolster their important efforts.

As hundreds of new families enrolled in District 3 public schools throughout the school year, PS11 and Quest to Learn—two public schools in Chelsea—have upleveled their support to educators to accommodate newly needed skills and language sets, and been quick to identify the ways in which these new families enrich their existing communities. Beyond the classroom, UnLocal—a New York City-based immigrant legal aid, education, and advocacy nonprofit—offers countless resources and programs to immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the city, and just last year in our neighborhood, their advocates provided essential legal services for 23 new Chelsea residents.

As an anchor institution on Manhattan’s West Side committed to the well-being of its surrounding communities, supporting these efforts was a no-brainer for the High Line. “We heard from our Neighbors Council that our partners at PS11, Quest to Learn, and UnLocal have made an important impact in welcoming our newest neighbors into Chelsea, and we want to help them continue that work to foster a sense of belonging for everyone in our community, “ said Preeti Sodhi, Senior Director of Community and Government Relations at Friends of the High Line. When we invest in this work, we invest in the resilience of our community.

Learn more about the High Line’s Neighbor to Neighbor Fund and this year’s recipients: PS11 Aid Foundation, Quest to Learn, and UnLocal. You can also hear Sodhi talk more about this important work and why it is important to the High Line in a televised interview with BronxNet.

“As the city’s policies change and more new students arrive, this influx of funds will allow us to remain flexible in how we respond to the needs of this community.”
—Jeffrey Gardner, parent at PS11

“Quest to Learn is grateful for the ways our partnership has allowed us to support our students’ growth, and this grant will go a long way in helping us continue to respond to their needs.”
—Marina Galazidis, Principal of Quest to Learn School

“With funding from Friends of the High Line, we will not only enhance our services but also connect to the High Line, a thriving space where community is built by exchanging stories and the city can be transformed.”
— Eva Mayhabal Davis, Director of Community Programs & Engagement at UnLocal

Neighbors Council members pose with High Line staff members in front of Old Tree.Photo by Lou Aguilar