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Gettin' High Line

By Aaron Short 10/10/12 11:44am

Gettin' High Line

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The Hinterlands of the High Line

The High Line Will Never Be the Same: Strolling the Wilds of Chelsea One Last Time

It is an unusual and yet utterly New York paradox that to glimpse the natural world in Manhattan you must visit an unnatural place.

That is part of the appeal of the weirdly beautiful High Line. Not the manicured park, with its concrete boardwalk and hordes of tourists but what came before on the 1.5-miles railroad trestle, the despoiled beauty of Mother Nature set loose in the wilds of Chelsea, undisturbed for decades but for the occasional trespasser.

More than 10 million visitors have taken in the breathtaking views of the city’s skyline and the Hudson River and traipsed through its minimalist landscape of historic tracks and native grasses since the High Line park opened in 2009. It has encouraged development in Chelsea and Meatpacking, inspired artists and filmmakers, and managed to polarize the surrounding neighborhood before it has even been fully restored.

Yet the thin strip of pre-post-industrial wildlands that made that all possible is about to disappear. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/20/12 2:32pm

Gettin' High Line

Change on the tracks. (Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

Bloomberg to High Line Haters: Cities Change, Get Over It

The High Line. Rejuvenator of neighborhoods, destroyer of neighborhoods.

Those are basically the two media narratives surrounding the elevated park on Manhattan’s West Side, which just held the groundbreaking for its third and final phase today. Most of the attention in the past has been on how great the design-y new park is, but as locals learn to live with the millions of visitors who flock to the park each year, some of them have started to complain, most notably in the Op-Ed pages of the Times, that the High Line has actually ruined, or at least Disneyfied, the neighborhoods surrounding it.

Asked about these changes today, Mayor Bloomberg did not necessarily disagree with the situation, just the sentiment. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/14/12 7:50am

Gettin' High Line

What do you think? (Jamestown Properties)

Shops Will Not Drop: Poll Finds Majority of New Yorkers Like Chelsea Market Expansion

The expansion of the Chelsea Market has drawn skepticism from some of the city’s most pro-development quarters, most notably City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden, who considers the neighboring High Line one of her hallmark achievements, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, caught between the concerns of her constituents and her boosters in the business community. Both have very powerful sway over the 500,00-square-foot project through the city’s public land-use review process, currently underway.

As for the rest of New York? They seem to like the plan, at least according to a new poll commissioned by supporters of the expansion.

Of the 600 New Yorkers surveyed in all five boroughs on behalf of the Chelsea Market Coalition, roughly half supported the project, with that number growing to 8 out of 10 when given a short description of the expansion, which includes roughly 300,000 square feet within two additions to the popular office and retail hub. What is most surprising about the results is that support among Manhattanites, including those living on the West Side of the island, paralleled or even outpaced support from the rest of the city. Read More

By Matt Chaban 7/20/12 11:30am

Gettin' High Line

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Scott Stringer Asks the Impossible, Wants Chelsea Market Expansion to Move, Developer Says It Can’t

A proposed expansion of the Chelsea Market is as big as some of its neighbors. Does that make it acceptable?

Jamestown Properties wants to add an eight-story addition onto the western end of the former Nabisco factory, which already is seven stories tall and encircles the High Line. Jamestown argues it should be allowed to match its taller neighbors, sating demand for techie office space. Locals counter that to do so would rob the High Line of the light and air and views that help make it more than a glorified Midtown sidewalk.

Borough President Scott Stringer has decided to side with them, voting against Jamestown’s proposal to expand. Among the recommendations he made yesterday to the City Planning Commission is that the bulk of the project should be shifted to the Ninth Avenue section of the building, where Jamestown has already proposed adding a hotel above Buddakkan—another feature Mr. Stringer wants eliminated. Read More

By Matt Chaban 7/19/12 10:54am

Gettin' High Line

Who needs a proper playground when you have this? (FotHL)

The High Line Has a Way With Money, Scores $5 M. While Neighbors Go Wanting

One of the chief complaints against the Chelsea Market expansion explored in this week’s Observer is that the project held no benefits for the community, only the High Line, which was receiving $19 million toward a long-term improvement fund.

It is only the latest sign of the park’s pull in the neighborhood and in the city, but here is another: DNAinfo dug into the city budget and found that the High Line is getting $5 million toward the creation of its third section. That is many times what neighboring amenities are getting, such as Hudson River Park, which is in much more dire shape. Read More

By Stephen Duffy 12/07/11 4:18pm

Gettin' High Line

Plans go here. (Friends of the High Line)

Topsoil, Trains and Toilets On High Line Wish List

“I’d love to see a locomotive up there,” Chelsea resident Grant Anderson said before a packed auditorium at P.S. 11 last night. His proposal for the third and final section of the High Line, encircling the Hudson Yards, was met with a burst of spontaneous applause.

Not only did it have the proper fanciful feel of the park that seems to float, as if by magic, above the hubbub of Manhattan, but it also had its antecedents.  “One of the great things about the High Line is you still get a sense of history,” he continued. “Just imagine the feeling—looking up and seeing a train and boxcar down the street.” Read More