Suspended urban park built on an old railway line, New York’s High Line celebrated its fifth anniversary this week, proud to now attract five million annual visitors, more according to its officials than the Statue of Liberty.
Posted on June 12, 2014
–
–
Brigitte DUSSEAU FRANCE MEDIA AGENCY
–
Inspired by Paris’ “Coulée Verte,” the High Line runs 2.3 kilometers through western Manhattan from Gansevoort Street, south of 12th Street, to 30th Street.
Built on a railroad track originally slated for demolition, the pedestrian-only public promenade, planted with more than 300 species of carefully manicured perennials, grasses, bushes and trees, offers spectacular views of the streets and buildings of Manhattan and on the Hudson River.
>>> To reread the article by our journalist Lucie Lavigne: A Sunday on the High Line
The Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf who created the plans favored the wild aspect, in permanent evolution according to the seasons. Portions of the old railway line have been preserved there.
The street furniture that invites you to relax, the artistic projects, the entertainment, free admission and the opening hours – it is open in summer from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. – have made it a very popular meeting place for tourists and New Yorkers. .
An oasis of greenery in the city that never sleeps, people come here to walk, rest, paint among the plants, admire the view.
“This year we expect to have more than five million visitors, more than the Statue of Liberty,” said Jenny Gersten, director of “Friends of the High Line”, a non-profit association that manages and maintains the urban park. , aided by an army of volunteers.
“The success has exceeded anything we could have imagined,” she said, telling AFP that on June 8, 2009, when the two founders, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, opened the first section, “they were wondering: “Are people going to come? How many will they be? Will they stay?
Third section this year
A second section followed in June 2011, and work is underway for a third, between 30th and 34th Streets, which is expected to open by the end of the year.
“It’s a unique experience in New York, which transports you nine meters above the ground, to look at (the city) in a way that you have nowhere else”, underlines Jenny Gersten.
The project took ten years, from a neighborhood meeting in 1999, where Joshua David and Robert Hammond, at the time alone against all, had put forward the idea that the railway line had to be preserved, overgrown with weeds and in make a hanging park.
“At the time, it was a dream, we had only a very small hope that it would succeed,” Joshua David, a former journalist, told AFP.
But after initial setbacks, the project slowly took shape. The town hall of Michael Bloomberg supports the project, invests 112 million dollars in the construction of the park, whose work begins in 2006. The “Friends of the High Line” also raise tens of millions of dollars.
Today, maintenance and operational management are 90% financed by donations from individuals, companies and foundations, according to Mr. David who welcomes this “unusual” mode of financing.
And fifteen years after the start of his dream, he still can’t believe it, around the birthday cake offered to volunteers and friends of the High Line.
“It’s a magical project,” he says. “We were expecting 400,000 people” per year, he confides.
The High Line, sometimes crowded on weekends, has in a few years completely transformed the neighborhoods it crosses, draining in particular major real estate investments in this sector of west Chelsea.
Luxury buildings have been built there in the immediate vicinity, with sometimes questionable architecture. Others are under construction.
Marie Détrée, a visiting Parisian, says she is amazed and “completely addicted”. “It’s very beautiful, there is a very beautiful design, very refined, and at the same time very functional. We are halfway up the floor, it’s extraordinary, ”she says, adding that she comes to walk there every day.
–
–
Brigitte DUSSEAU
FRANCE MEDIA AGENCY
–
Inspired by Paris’ “Coulée Verte,” the High Line runs 2.3 kilometers through western Manhattan from Gansevoort Street, south of 12th Street, to 30th Street.
Built on a railroad track originally slated for demolition, the pedestrian-only public promenade, planted with more than 300 species of carefully manicured perennials, grasses, bushes and trees, offers spectacular views of the streets and buildings of Manhattan and on the Hudson River.
>>> To reread the article by our journalist Lucie Lavigne: A Sunday on the High Line
The Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf who created the plans favored the wild aspect, in permanent evolution according to the seasons. Portions of the old railway line have been preserved there.
The street furniture that invites you to relax, the artistic projects, the entertainment, free admission and the opening hours – it is open in summer from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. – have made it a very popular meeting place for tourists and New Yorkers. .
An oasis of greenery in the city that never sleeps, people come here to walk, rest, paint among the plants, admire the view.
“This year we expect to have more than five million visitors, more than the Statue of Liberty,” said Jenny Gersten, director of “Friends of the High Line”, a non-profit association that manages and maintains the urban park. , aided by an army of volunteers.
“The success has exceeded anything we could have imagined,” she said, telling AFP that on June 8, 2009, when the two founders, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, opened the first section, “they were wondering: “Are people going to come? How many will they be? Will they stay?
Third section this year
A second section followed in June 2011, and work is underway for a third, between 30th and 34th Streets, which is expected to open by the end of the year.
“It’s a unique experience in New York, which transports you nine meters above the ground, to look at (the city) in a way that you have nowhere else”, underlines Jenny Gersten.
The project took ten years, from a neighborhood meeting in 1999, where Joshua David and Robert Hammond, at the time alone against all, had put forward the idea that the railway line had to be preserved, overgrown with weeds and in make a hanging park.
“At the time, it was a dream, we had only a very small hope that it would succeed,” Joshua David, a former journalist, told AFP.
But after initial setbacks, the project slowly took shape. The town hall of Michael Bloomberg supports the project, invests 112 million dollars in the construction of the park, whose work begins in 2006. The “Friends of the High Line” also raise tens of millions of dollars.
Today, maintenance and operational management are 90% financed by donations from individuals, companies and foundations, according to Mr. David who welcomes this “unusual” mode of financing.
And fifteen years after the start of his dream, he still can’t believe it, around the birthday cake offered to volunteers and friends of the High Line.
“It’s a magical project,” he says. “We were expecting 400,000 people” per year, he confides.
The High Line, sometimes crowded on weekends, has in a few years completely transformed the neighborhoods it crosses, draining in particular major real estate investments in this sector of west Chelsea.
Luxury buildings have been built there in the immediate vicinity, with sometimes questionable architecture. Others are under construction.
Marie Détrée, a visiting Parisian, says she is amazed and “completely addicted”. “It’s very beautiful, there is a very beautiful design, very refined, and at the same time very functional. We are halfway up the floor, it’s extraordinary, ”she says, adding that she comes to walk there every day.
PHOTO STAN HONDA, AFP
–
–
Related posts:
Share this:
Related
Viral Video Putin Shakes, Russia Threatens Britain!
Airing on April 30, 2022, this is the ticket price for watching KKN Movies at the Dancer Village