Journals

Another West Side Gem!     New York recently celebrated the opening of one of it's most anticipated Public Spaces, the High Line!   Running North to South on 10th avenue, the park stretches from 20th street and empties into the Meatpacking District around 9th avenue & 12th street.   Before the park was a park, it served as a freight train line from the 1930s, eventually closing in 1980. Sitting in disrepair for the last few decades, the line went unnoticed and nearly completely forgotten to all New Yorkers, until a few years ago when whispers surfaced that the city was a iming to transform the abandoned and elevated railway into a public park!      The High Line's southern half finally opened to the public on June 8 of this year, and has quickly become a hit with Locals and Tourists alike! Once the northern half is developed and finished, the park will run nearly 1.5 miles along the west end of Manhattan, hopefully revitalizing the surrounding neighborhoods   I took the chance to visit the park recently after receiving a new camera in the mail. While the park and the surrounding area are on the less traveled side of Manhattan - though Chelsea Market is a hop-skip away from the park's north entrance 10th ave and 20h street, the experience is wholly unique to New York:   Walk up the flight of stairs, reaching the platform, and you're immediately greeted by a sprawling view of Manhattan in all directions! Look to the North and East and the Empire State Building peeks out from the tops of the colonial and victorian buildings across the street. Look west, and you're greeted by the Hudson River and the busy West Side Highway. South reveals the rest of the walkway and a seemingly endless maze of modern buildings with the West Village's quaint green-ness in the distance.   While you're bound to run into a multitude locals and tourists, take time to enjoy the surrounding architecture and the foliage interplanted with the existing rail tracks. The park runs through a couple yet-to-be-finished constructions and it's integration into those buildings will surely be outstanding when finished! There are many places to rest along the way -- though the mood there is so relaxing, you'll hardly need to rest, if only to lounge, relax and take in the sights! I've even heard rumors of a local Soprano giving free nightly performances in the park's small ampitheater closer to the south entrance!   New York tends to have a poor reputation in embracing public space, but uncovering more sides of the city reveals just the opposite, and the High Line is certainly a welcome new jewel in New York's green crown!