NY High Line walking tour
Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr
On this blog I’m more interested in unusual walking tours over the ‘everyday’ ones that happen, well, everyday, around the world.
GOOD’s walking tour of New York’s High Line on Saturday October 24 seems like a standard walking tour but the tour location is so unique I thought readers might be interested, if you haven’t heard of the High Line already.
The High Line is a public park built on a disused, elevated railway line in Manhatten that opened on 8 June this year.
The High Line is interesting for two reasons: first because it is an example of successfully transforming an unlikely urban space into an accessible, green and creative public space; and second because a community action group of local residents, Friends of the High Line, saved it from demolition in 1999, and have since stayed on to partner with government and private companies to design and redevelop the High Line. Friends of the High Line are a nonprofit organisation that manage and fundraise for the park.
Why else is the High Line special?
- There’s contemporary art in, on and near the park, ongoing programs for public art and art is an integral part of the space: “Artwork is a logical inclusion for the High Line; artists, gallery owners and art collectors were among the earliest supporters of its transformation into a public park space, and it runs through some of the most culturally significant neighborhoods of Manhattan.”
- “It offers a hopeful model for industrial reuse for other cities around the world.”
- It has a great blog, image gallery including historical photos and design submissions, a schools program and a Flickr pool.
In 2010, the final part, Section 2 (20th Street to 30th Street) opens to the public. When this section is complete, the High Line will be a 2.4 km eevated park, running through the West Side neighbourhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen.