It's high time I hit up the High Line!

I had heard great reviews about the High Line since it opened in June, but I FINALLY just went to see it this past week! It was just as amazing as I hoped it would be!I lucked out with gorgeous weather!There was fabulous people watching! I mean the clothing and style is just amazing!The natural plantings and the way the original rail ties are blended into the landscaping is really quite striking. Many compliments to James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the landscape architeture firm and architecture firm responsible for the breathtaking design. Many great sites to take in - I found that some of the dilapidated buildings were so visually intriguing. Isn't it interesting to see the old building and tracks juxtaposed against the new path?Other fun sites include this seating area which looks out onto the avenue below.I loved these chaise lounges! In addition to beautiful green space, this park includes several lovely seating areas, perfect for taking a snack from the Chelsea Market. The High Line was originally built in the 1930's to remove train traffic from Death Avenue, as 10th Ave was known due to the high level of accidents between the street level trains and road traffic in the busy industrial area that was the meat packing district.
The elevated tracks were designed to run over the center of blocks rather than over the avenue to avoid some of the negative conditions of elevated tracks and allowed trains to connect directly to factories and warehouses. The tracks were used until 1980 at which point the space sat vacant for many years.

Fortunately for us, in 1999, Friends of the High Line is formed, advocating preservation and reuse as a public space. Now, the High Line is open from Gansevoort to 20th Street, with plans to open 20th to 30th street in 2010!

It's such a great place to spend an afternoon in NYC!

Photo Credits: the High Line, Huffington Post and Flickr.