Art, Architecture and More on New York City's High Line Trail

Early on Friday morning, October 21, 2022, we grabbed a cup of coffee from a local shop and headed out to hike New York City's famous High Line Trail, which we've wanted to walk for years.

The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of of Manhattan. Inspired by the 2.9 mile long Promenade Plantée completed in Paris completed in 1993, it has been resurrected as a "living system" drawing from multiple disciplines of landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology. 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. Repurposing the railway into an urban park began in 2006 and opened in phases beginning in 2009.  Additional sections extending the High Line are currently under construction.  The High Line has become an icon of American contemporary landscape architecture, inspiring 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 2019, it had 8 million visitors a year. 

The line is maintained by Friends of the High Line, an organization credited with saving the structure by rallying public support for the park and convincing Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration in 2002 to support the project.  Friends of the High Line played a role in the line's visual aesthetic, holding a competition in conjunction with the city of New York in 2004 to determine the design team which would lead the project.  Friends of the High Line has raised more than $150 million in public and private funds toward the construction of the first two sections of the park.

Residents who have bought apartments next to the High Line adapted to its presence, but many established businesses in west Chelsea closed due to loss of their neighborhood customer base or rent increases. In a 2017 interview, Friends of the High Line co-founder Robert Hammond said that he "failed" the community, which includes two housing projects with minority residents.  He admitted that the High Line did not fulfill its original purpose of serving the surrounding neighborhood, which had become demographically divided around the park.

On the positive side, due to the High Line's popularity, the Whitney Museum has built a new home for its collection of American art. The building, designed by Renzo Piano, opened on May 1, 2015.

We climbed the stairs to the northern terminus of the High Line on 34th Street and snapped a trailhead selfy to memorialize the trip.  That's 34th Street in the background:

  

Most of the High Line has incorporated the original railway track rather than tearing them out.  In some places, concrete has filled in spaces between railroad ties; in others, large sections of concrete have replaced the ties entirely; and in yet others, the path has been built on a raised platform or bed above the tracks to avoid disrupting the greenery that has grown up along the bed:

The gentle sweep of the High Line's curve make for interesting contrasts with the vertical lines of the city:

In certain light, the views down the streets are gorgeous: 

Some unusual buildings have been constructed alongside the raised trail, such as this one with rounded balconies --

-- and this one, whose apartment exterior walls appear to be entirely glass:

 

 

The building in the photo above boasts a beautiful sculpture garden with works by the French artist François-Xavier Lalanne, including this fetching "LAPIN À VENT":

Some of the sculptures were installed on the High Line itself.  For example, not long after passing the garden above, we happened upon this compelling sculpture, "Windy," by Meriem Bennani, a Moroccan artist resident in New York:

 "Windy" is Bennani's first public sculpture.  It is made of black foam and spins.  Here is a video showing "Windy" in motion!

The High Line seems to be inspiring whimsical and unusual designs for the building along its path, as well:

One beautiful mural graces the trail -- "The_Baayfalls," by  Jordan Casteel:

Many residential buildings make the most of windows looking out over the trail.  Here, a happy cat lolls about in its own glass catio above the walkway and probably enjoys the spectacle of humans passing by at all hours:

Some sculptures are ambiguous in their relationships with the High Line and adjoining buildings, such as this one, which has adapted the Statue of Liberty to make statements in support of freedom and dignity:

Some of the structure of the High Line qualifies as "accidental art," such as this array of pillars and construction walls in arbitrary conjunction with street graffiti:

Here was another formal sculpture incorporated into the High Line trailscape -- Nina Beier's "Women & Children," installed in 2022:

While much of the vegetation on the High Line has been planted in a naturalized setting, most of the trees appear to have grown naturally in the rocks and soil of the railbed, and have been preserved and incorporated into the landscaping.  In fact, there are places along the trail that embrace the walker with a woodsy spirit.  In the view below, a photographer appreciates the boughs above and across from her:

This section of the trail is a good example of the naturalized plantings added to the High Line:

 

 

One surprising spot along the trail boasts benches in a small amphitheater setting.  The urban view from this vantage is reminiscent of an Edward Hopper painting:

 

 

As we started our return from the south end of the trail, reaching 10th Street, we passed Guardian Angel Roman Catholic Church, which graced its trailside facade with a welcoming image of its namesake:

 

 

Moving further north, we spotted a painted facade with images of Andy Warhol and Frida Kahlo: 

 

 

After our walk, researching for this blog entry, we found that the mural is by Eduardo Kobra and depicts Keith Haring and Jean Michel Bastiquiat as well as Andy Warhol and Frida Kahlo.  It graces a wall of The Empire Diner at 10th Avenue and 22nd Street:

 

 

In fact, the High Line is as much about naturalized landscapes, architecture and art as it is recreation.  Getting into this spirit, we enjoyed one last sculpture before we reached the northern terminus.  The luxury rental complex known as Ten23, between 22nd & 23rd Street on Tenth Avenue, installed a piece of sculpture, by the artist Charlie Hewitt, called “Urban Rattle." It stands about 20 feet high in the center of the building’s patio, just below and on the eastern edge of the High Line.  It is another great example of how the park has inspired art, landscape and architecture on adjacent properties:

 

 

The High Line proved to be much, much more than we expected.  Anyone who enjoys New York City, or art, or architecture, or parks, or hiking (or just plain strolling) will be well rewarded by an hour or two on this beautiful rail-trail.