Existing comment:
1980s:
Nature Takes Over:
In 1980, the last train rolls down the High Line carrying three carloads of frozen turkeys. For the next two decades, the High Line sits, unused, while nature begins to reclaim it. Seeds are carried in by the wind and by birds and insects, and begin to take root in the gravel ballast of the High Line. Over time, an entire self-seeded landscape emerges amid the steel railroad tracks, visible only to a few inhabitants in adjacent buildings.
1999:
Friends of the High Line:
Two neighborhood residents, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, meet at a community board meeting in West Chelsea, where local leaders are discussing plans to demolish the High Line. The two yougn New Yorkers form a non-profit group called Friends of the High Line to advocate for the High Line's preservation and transformation into public open space.
2002:
A Partnership with the City:
Michael R. Bloomberg is elected Mayor and reverses previous City policy, which favored demolition, and commits to the preservation and reuse of the High Line. The following year, the City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Gifford Miller and Councilwoman Christine C. Quinn, makes an initial capital commitment to convert the High Line into a public park.
2005:
CSX Donates High Line:
Following six years of close collaboration with the City of New York and Friends of the High Line, CSX Transportation donates the southern segment of the High Line. The City and CSX execute a Trail Use Agreement for the High Line, under the federal "Rails to Trails" program. Seven years later, CSX donates the High Line at the Rail Yards.
2009-2014:
High Line Opens:
The first section of the High Line, between Gansevoort and West 20th Streets, opens in June 2009, followed by the second section, between West 20th and West 30th Streets, in June 2011. The third section of the High Line, between West 30th and West 34rh Streets to the south and north, and 10th and 12th Avenues from the east and west, opens to visitors in 2014. With its completion, the High Line connects three neighborhoods along Manhattan's West Side -- the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea, and Hudson Yards -- with the No. 7 subway station and the Javits Convention Center.
2016:
Hudson Yards;
Hudson Yards, a bold, progressive development plan, will transform Manhattan's West Side. This 26-acre mixed-use development will include new housing, office space, retail, parks, open space, cultural buildings, and entertainment facilities. The new buildings will be built on a platform over a storage yard for commuter trains traveling to and from Penn Station, resulting in a unique scenario where the High Line -- typically elevated 30 feet above the street -- will be level with the development site. |