High Line Connections

The High Line – Moynihan Connector

Newly opened in June 2023, the High Line – Moynihan Train Hall Connector moves east along 30th Street and turns 90 degrees north along Dyer Avenue into the public space at Manhattan West, Brookfield Properties’ mixed-use development. Pedestrians are able to move north from 31st Street and then east through Manhattan West and into Moynihan Train Hall, which is directly across 9th Avenue. This new path traverses over busy streets, allowing neighbors, commuters, and visitors access to transit amenities and the west side of Manhattan with only one street crossing.

The design is a collaboration between Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Field Operations, who was a part of the High Line’s original design team. It consists of a pair of bridges that both complement and contrast with the existing High Line structure. The Woodland Bridge, running along 30th Street, features deep soil beds allowing for a lush green ribbon of trees that encapsulate the visitor from the urban streetscape below. The Timber Bridge is a Warren truss made of sustainably sourced wood that runs above Dyer Avenue into Magnolia Court, the public plaza at Manhattan West. Steel decking and bronze handrails link the design of both bridges.

Beginning at the Spur, the Woodland Bridge is composed of precast concrete panels supported by a weathering steel structure that creates an approximately 340 foot long planter. With deeper planting beds than anywhere on the High Line, this section allows for larger trees that grow into a lush green landscape for birds and native pollinators and shield you from the traffic below. Plantings include 63 trees, 90 shrubs, and more than 5,200 grasses and perennials. Suspended above the planters, the bridge walkway itself is perforated with open joints, allowing rainwater to drip down to nourish the plantings, and creating a pedestrian-safe, lush corridor to the train hall.

The 260 foot long Timber Bridge is made up of 163 Alaskan yellow cedar, glue laminated wood beams that made the journey from British Columbia to Manhattan, where they were painstakingly fastened together at street level. The finished sections—a whopping 256,704 lbs of material—were craned into place on Dyer Street to form the full bridge, completing a continuous path from the High Line’s Spur to Magnolia Court at Manhattan West. Watch the dramatic timelapse from May 2023 of this awe-inspiring installation:

A public-private partnership
The imagining, planning, designing, and building of the High Line – Moynihan Connector is a testament to the incredible collaboration with our partners Empire State Development and Brookfield Properties; the design team of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Field Operations; and our ongoing partnership with the New York City Departments of Parks & Recreation who helped turn this beautiful vision for New York City into a reality. Numerous community and elected officials, neighborhood organizations, and community boards were consulted in the planning and concept process for the Connector.

With Thanks

Dedicated June 2023
Governor Kathy Hochul
State of New York

Empire State Development
Hope Knight, President, CEO, and Commissioner

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Rick Cotton, Executive Director

Special thanks
Holly Leicht, Douglas Carr

Friends of the High Line
Joshua David, Co-Founder
Robert Hammond, Co-Founder
Mario J. Palumbo, Jr., Chair
Susan Viniar, Vice Chair
Alan van Capelle, Executive Director

Brookfield Properties
Ben Brown, Managing Partner
Sabrina Kanner, Executive Vice President

Design and Construction
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Field Operations
Turner Construction Company

We gratefully acknowledge the following leaders for their generous contributions toward the High Line Essential Bridge Fund, which made possible the High Line – Moynihan Connector. Their support ensures the original vision for the High Line remains healthy, beautiful, innovative, and strong. Together these champions have seeded new bold ideas that advance the High Line as a community connector and as an active leader in the greening and betterment of New York City.

HIGH LINE

Joshua David, Co-Founder
Robert Hammond, Co-Founder

Alan van Capelle, Executive Director

HIGH LINE ESSENTIAL BRIDGE FUND LEADERSHIP SUPPORT

Jane Lauder
Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust

Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros
The Diamonstein-Spielvogel Foundation
Ellen M. Fitzsimmons
Sarah Min and Matt Pincus
Amanda and Don Mullen
Susan and David Viniar
Joanne and Fred Wilson

Amanda M. Burden
Sharon Davis
Cheryl and Blair Effron
Janine and J. Tomilson Hill
Catie Marron
The Oliver and Hanson Families and Avenues: The World School
Denise Littlefield Sobel
The Seymour Foundation
Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch

Jessica and Matt Harris
Julie A. Hatterer, MD
Susan & Stephen Scherr

Ursula M. Burns
Kristen Dickey & James Dooley
The Neil Simpkins & Miyoung Lee Charitable Giving Fund
Mario Palumbo and Stefan Gargiulo
Elizabeth W. Smith

Joshua David
Philip Kent
Gifford Miller
Ackneil M. Muldrow, III
Jamestown LP
Delores Rubin
Jason and Kristen Stewart
Joyce F. Menschel
Darren Walker

as of June 2023

Creating new High Line connections

The Connections project represents a shared vision to expand the ways we connect the neighborhoods, institutions, businesses, parks, and transportation hubs that define Manhattan’s West Side. Ever since the High Line’s inception, we’ve studied challenges to pedestrian mobility in this neighborhood and assessed opportunities for improvement. We’re excited to create safer, more enjoyable ways for our neighbors, New Yorkers, and visitors to continue to connect with each other and New York City.

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