When the High Line was originally constructed in the early 1930s, it ran for 13 miles from 35th Street down to St. John's Park Terminal, replacing the street-level railroad tracks which had run down Manhattan's West Side since 1847. The elevated structure, constructed to support two fully-loaded freight trains, tunneled through the centres of blocks, allowing wagons to roll right inside the factories and warehouses which were their destination.
Founded in 1999, the organisation Friends of the High Line has been campaigning for the conversion of the surviving 1.5 miles which run through three of Manhattan's most dynamic neighbourhoods - Hell's Kitchen/Hudson Yards, West Chelsea and the Gansevoort Market Historic District – into a linear public park, elevating pedestrians above street level and providing a whole series of new perspectives on the cityscape.
Founded in 1999, the organisation Friends of the High Line has been campaigning for the conversion of the surviving 1.5 miles which run through three of Manhattan's most dynamic neighbourhoods - Hell's Kitchen/Hudson Yards, West Chelsea and the Gansevoort Market Historic District – into a linear public park, elevating pedestrians above street level and providing a whole series of new perspectives on the cityscape.