High Line
The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway, and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf. The abandoned spur has been redesigned as a "living system" drawing from multiple disciplines which include landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology. The High Line was inspired by the long Coulée verte, another elevated park in Paris completed in 1993.
The park is built on an abandoned, southern viaduct section of the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line. Originating in the Meatpacking District, the park runs from Gansevoort Street—three blocks below 14th Street—through Chelsea to the northern edge of the West Side Yard on 34th Street near the Javits Center. The West Side Line formerly extended south to a railroad terminal at Spring Street, just north of Canal Street, and north to 35th Street at the site of the Javits Center. Due to a decline in rail traffic along the rest of the viaduct, it was effectively abandoned in 1980 when the construction of the Javits Center required the demolition of the viaduct's northernmost portion. The southern portion of the viaduct was demolished in segments during the late 20th century.
A nonprofit organization called Friends of the High Line was formed in 1999 by Joshua David and Robert Hammond, advocating its preservation and reuse as public open space, an elevated park or greenway. Celebrity New Yorkers joined in on fundraising and support for the concept. The administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans for a High Line park in 2003. Repurposing the railway into an urban park began in 2006 and opened in phases during 2009, 2011, and 2014. The Spur, an extension of the High Line that originally connected with the Morgan General Mail Facility at Tenth Avenue and 30th Street, opened in 2019. The Moynihan Connector, extending east from the Spur to Moynihan Train Hall, opened in 2023.
Since opening in June 2009, the High Line has become an icon of American contemporary landscape architecture. The High Line's success has inspired cities throughout the United States to redevelop obsolete infrastructure as public space. The park became a tourist attraction and spurred real estate development in adjacent neighborhoods, increasing real-estate values and prices along the route. By September 2014, the park had nearly five million visitors annually, and by 2019, it had eight million visitors per year.
Description
The High Line extends for from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street. At 30th Street the elevated tracks turn west around the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on 34th Street. As proposed, the park was to be integrated with the Hudson Yards development and the Hudson Park and Boulevard. If Hudson Yards' Western Rail Yard is built, it will be elevated above the High Line Park, so an exit along the viaduct over the West Side Yard will lead to the Western Rail Yard. The 34th Street entrance is at grade, with wheelchair access.The park is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. through the warmer months, and until 8:00 p.m. in winter. It can be reached through eleven entrances, five of which are accessible to people with disabilities. The wheelchair-accessible entrances, each with stairs and an elevator, are at Gansevoort, 14th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th Streets. Additional staircase-only entrances are located at 18th, 20th, 26th, and 28th Streets, and 11th Avenue. Street-level access is available at 34th Street via the Interim Walkway, which runs from 30th Street and 11th Avenue to 34th Street west of 11th Avenue.
Route
At the Gansevoort Street end, the stub over Gansevoort Street is named the Tiffany and Co. Foundation Overlook and was dedicated in July 2012; the foundation was a major supporter of the park. The southern terminus of the park also contains a small wooded area called the Gansevoort Woodland. The route then passes under The Standard, High Line hotel and through a passage at 14th Street. At 14th Street, the High Line splits into two sides at different elevations; the Diller-Von Furstenberg Water Feature is on the lower side, and a sundeck is on the upper side.The route passes through the west edge of the Chelsea Market, a food hall, at 15th Street. A spur, connecting the viaduct to the National Biscuit Company building and closed to the public, splits off at 16th Street. The railroad tracks on the spur are left in situ but the trackbeds are planted with greenery. The Tenth Avenue Square, an amphitheater on the viaduct, is at 17th Street where the High Line crosses over Tenth Avenue from southeast to northwest. There is a lawn at 23rd Street, where the viaduct widens slightly to accommodate a former track spur. Between 25th and 26th Streets a ramp takes visitors above the plants and shrubs on the viaduct. Known as the Philip Falcone and Lisa Maria Falcone Flyover, after two major donors to the park, it was based on plans for a Phase 1 flyover which was never built. The flyover has a scenic overlook facing east at 26th Street, as well as several short overlooks with benches.
The park then curves west to Phase 3 and merges into the Tenth Avenue Spur, which stretches over 30th Street to Tenth Avenue. The Tenth Avenue Spur is composed of three parts: the Coach Passage, with ceilings; the High Line's largest planted garden; and a plaza with temporary art exhibitions that get replaced every 18 months. The art exhibition space is named the Plinth, an allusion to London's Fourth plinth, which also displays temporary art. Phase 3 has another ramp taking visitors above the viaduct at 11th Avenue and a play area with rail ties and the Pershing Beams, a gathering space with benches, and a set of three railroad tracks where one can walk between the rails. The play area also has a seesaw-like bench and a "chime bench", with keys which make sounds when tapped. The Interim Walkway, from 11th Avenue and 30th Street to 34th Street divides the viaduct into two sides: a gravel walkway and an undeveloped section with rail tracks. The temporary walkway closed for renovation when the Tenth Avenue Spur was completed. The High Line turns north to a point just east of Twelfth Avenue. At 34th Street it curves east and descends, ending at street level midway between 12th and 11th Avenues.
The High Line Moynihan Connector, a walkway from the Tenth Avenue Spur to Moynihan Train Hall at Ninth Avenue, opened in June 2023. The spur runs east along 30th Street for one block to Dyer Avenue. The span above 30th Street uses a V-shaped structure called the Woodlands Bridge, which contains a planting bed. The walkway then turns north to 31st Street across the Timber Bridge, a span shaped like a Warren truss. It terminates at a public space within Manhattan West that ends at the west side of Ninth Avenue, directly across from Moynihan Train Hall.
Landscape design
The landscape design was curated by Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf using natural landscaping techniques. The plantings include sturdy meadow plants and scattered stands of sumac and smokebush and is not limited to native plants. At the Gansevoort Street end, a grove of mixed species of birch provides shade by late afternoon.The High Line viaduct had 161 species of plants before it was converted into a park; the modern park has about 400 species of plants, including grasses and trees. There are about 100,000 unique specimens of plants. Each species is selected based on their appearance, in addition to how well they survive throughout the year. The park has a team of 10 horticulturists, who trim and prune the plants throughout the year to prevent overgrowth. Throughout the park, the soil has an average depth of. The park uses sustainable landscaping and organic lawn management techniques to maintain the space. Native fauna documented in the park include 33 native bee species, butterflies including painted ladies, and migratory birds including warblers.
Attractions
The park's attractions include naturalized plantings, inspired by plants which grew on the disused tracks, and views of the city and the Hudson River. The pebble-dash concrete walkways swell and constrict, swing from side to side, and divide into concrete tines which meld the hardscape with plantings embedded in railroad-gravel mulch. "By opening the paving, we allow the plants to bleed through," said landscape architect James Corner, "almost as if the plants were colonizing the paved areas. There's a sort of blending or bleeding or suturing between the hard paving, the surface for people to stroll on, and the planting... " Stretches of track and ties recall the High Line's former use, and portions of track are re-used for rolling lounges positioned for river views. The benches use Brazilian Ipê timber, which came from a managed forest certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. According to James Corner Field Operations, the High Line's design "is characterized by an intimate choreography of movement."The High Line also has cultural attractions as part of a long-term plan for the park to host temporary installations and performances. Creative Time, Friends of the High Line, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation commissioned The River That Flows Both Ways by Spencer Finch as the inaugural art installation. It has also hosted events such as a pigeon-themed festival, as well as a series of conservation-themed activities.
Artwork
The High Line exhibits numerous pieces of artwork through its public-artwork subsidiary High Line Art, whose curator since 2011 has been Cecilia Alemani. A mid-2010 sound installation by Stephen Vitiello was composed from bells heard throughout New York. Lauren Ross, former director of the alternative art space White Columns, was the High Line's first curator. During the construction of the second phase several artworks were installed, including Sarah Sze's Still Life with Landscape : a steel-and-wood sculpture near 20th and 21st Streets built as a house for fauna such as birds and butterflies. Kim Beck's Space Available was installed on the roofs of three buildings visible from the southern end. Three sculptures, resembling the armature of empty billboards and constructed like theater backdrops, looks three-dimensional from a distance. Also installed during the second phase of construction was Julianne Swartz's Digital Empathy, a work utilizing audio messages at restrooms, elevators, and water fountains. Maine artist Charlie Hewitt's sculpture Urban Rattle was permanently installed in 2013.In 2012 and 2013, the Ghanaian born Nigerian artist El Anatsui's large scale sculpture Broken Bridge ll fashioned from recycled pressed tin and broken mirrors was positioned on a wall on the west side of the street between 21st and 22nd streets, facing and sidelining the High Line. In 2016 Tony Matelli's controversial sculpture Sleepwalker was exhibited upon the High Line. Max Hooper Schneider's aquarium was displayed on the linear park in 2017. The next year, the High Line hosted the British sculptor Phyllida Barlow's first public commission, Prop. High Line Art also displays artwork on a billboard near 18th Street and 10th Avenue.
In 2023 the plinth commission went to the Swiss multimedia artist Pamela Rosenkranz who created a giant bright pink tree sculpture called Old Tree. An aluminum sculpture of a pigeon, Dinosaur, by Iván Argote was mounted on the High Line plinth in 2024. In conjunction with this sculpture, in June 2025, the High Line held its first Human "Pigeon Impersonator Contest". In 2025 Mika Rottenberg's Foot Fountain was exhibited on the High Line.