Seven weeks ago New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened the doors to the High Line, touting New York’s newest green space as “an extraordinary gift to our city’s future.” Originally the far-fetched dream of two local residents, the High Line has evolved into a successful initiative between the city and the local community to transform an abandoned elevated railway into park space in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Wildflowers and prairie grasses abound on this park, which extends along 10th Avenue from 20th Street to Gansevoort Street. More than 100 plant species grow over concrete planks and stretches of track beds intentionally left behind as an ode to the park’s unique history. A small amphitheater of wooden benches beckons visitors to analyze traffic patterns on 10th Avenue, while late-night strollers are treated to informal cabaret performances on a nearby fire escape.
The High Line may never have come to fruition without the vision of Joshua David and Robert Hammond, who founded Friends of the High Line in 1999 and spearheaded a campaign to reuse the abandoned elevated rail line for park space. The local writer and painter, respectively, met at a community board meeting and bonded over the common vision of saving the High Line from demolition. As Hammond put it, the High Line tracks presented “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve a mile-and-a-half of Manhattan as an uninterrupted walkway and vantage point for people to enjoy on their own terms.” The city jumped on board in 2002, and not long after—encouraged by a study that concluded the increased tax revenue would outweigh the cost of construction—filed with the federal Surface Transportation Board to railbank and preserve the High Line.
Part of the park’s success—an astounding 300,000 visitors have flocked to the High Line since its opening—is due to the romanticized attention the project has received from politicians, celebrities and New York notables alike. Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, moguls Barry Diller, Philip and Lisa Maria Falcone, fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg, and actors Edward Norton, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have all publicly supported the project and consequently helped foot the park’s high price tag.
Friends of the High Line privately raised $44 million for the park’s transformation, which covered nearly half of the costs for the first phase. The next phase will extend the park to 30th street by fall 2010 and is expected to cost $66 million. The final phase, still unapproved and lacking a cost estimate, will extend the park to 34th Street. The first two phases of the High Line were donated to the city by CSX Transportation Inc., while land underneath the High Line remains in the hands of private property owners, New York State and New York City.
Under an agreement between Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Friends of the High Line will cover the estimated $3.5 to 4.5 million annual operating costs of the High Line, with the city expected to chip in $1 million and provide security through the parks department. Founders of the High Line have recently proposed a business improvement district tax that would help fund the park's increased maintenance costs. The tax would cost the owner of a 1,000 square foot apartment between $30 to $90 a year, depending on the apartment's proximity to the park, and raise $1 million annually. Whether or not the tax will be imposed to help foot the bill—created in part by crowds four times larger than expected—will remain unclear until a formal proposal is submitted to the city later this year.
In an effort to preserve the neighborhood’s character, city planners worked with the community to zone several surrounding blocks for manufacturing and established special setbacks that preserve the expansive views the High Line is known for. To limit the intrusion of private luxury buildings onto the public space, city planners also limited building extensions to five-and-a-half feet in width.
In spite of these efforts, surrounding development has already changed the neighborhood: more than 5,500 square feet of living space has sprouted up since the development of the High Line was announced. Developers have flocked to the underdeveloped location—long known for its gritty cobblestone streets and art galleries—with more than 30 projects already completed or in the works.
With 80 percent of the area’s square footage located in luxury residences and area rents averaging $1,500 per square foot, the grass roots High Line project has managed to not only transform an industrial structure into public green space but also reshape, for better or worse, the surrounding neighborhood in the process.
