Field Visit #3: The Limits of Architecture and the new "High Line" Park

High line Park is 1.45 miles long and located on Manhattan's west side. It starts from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. It has only a few access points to get into the park including from Gansevoort, 14st, 16st, 18st and 20 streets. The high line was originally constructed in the 1930s to move dangerous freight trains above street level in order to decrease fatal accidents.

I was happy to see the High Line park. I remember it looked awful and in disrepair when I had passed by it before. Whether I was in a car or walking on the street, I was always able to see all the dead plants and trees coming over the railroad. I had heard that the city was looking to transform it into a park, but was skeptical of the plan because first, I couldn't picture a long and narrow park in the sky and second, as with most New York plans, I didn't believe it was going to get completed this soon. The park opened in June 2009.

One of the most interesting stories behind this park was that the idea to transform a railroad line to a city park first came from the neighborhood residents. They created the community group that pushed the idea and got Mayor Bloomberg to become a big supporter for the project.

Even though the park cost the city over $50 millions to build, I think the idea to do it was genius. To just remove the old railroad would have cost the city just as much as spending to transform it into a park. And given the lack of land to build parks within New York City, the High Line park is a great idea!

We also went to the another landmark that was remodeled in NYC: Chelsea Piers. Also located on the west side of Manhattan, Chelsea Piers was originally a ship terminal in early 1900s. The space is now used as a sports and entrainment complex. Since Manhattan has very limited land, New Yorkers didn't have many places to play team sports besides expensive health clubs. Chelsea piers offers many different sports such as indoor basketball, soccer, rock climbing and gymnastics etc.