rjque

<quote of deleted material redacted by moderator; response retained for clarification>

I enjoyed the photos and I don't understand your comment. Is "real estate" limited on Flyertalk?

magiciansampras

Many folks find images in posts to be annoying and obnoxious. In this case the OP could have let us know that the pictures he took are at his blog, which they are.

rjque

I don't, but this is really more of a Talkboard topic than something to be debated here.

dstan

1) Images are permitted in the NYC Forum and across most of FlyerTalk, and that has been the case for over two years now. In the judgment of this moderator, the photos posted in the first post of this thread were entirely appropriate and on-topic to the subject of the thread, as required under the FlyerTalk Guidelines & Rules. It makes no difference if the images are created by an amateur or professional. To notify concerned users that there are photos in this thread, I have appended that designator to the title.

Anyone who disagrees with this decision is welcome to file an appeal with the Senior Moderators or Community Director. Anyone who does not wish to view the photos in this thread is invited to refrain from continuing to read it (simply do not click on the link). Anyone who disagrees with allowing images to be posted on FlyerTalk should broach that issue with TalkBoard.

2) Inappropriate personal exchanges have now been redacted. Some have apparently come to this thread with underlying personal agendas. Quite frankly, this is the sort of thing that gives the NYC Forum a bad name. While is fine to have rational, dispassionate, respectful discussions on issues about which we disagree, as some were able to do in the "Cycling Tickets on the Rise in Central Park" thread, our focus should really be on providing helpful information to other FlyerTalk members, not on constantly trying to prove who is right about this or that. It's tiresome, pointless, and disruptive.

I don't know everything about everything (some would say that I don't know anything about anything), but I know this:

Treat your fellow FlyerTalk members with respect and dignity and you can expect them to do the same. Fail to do so and you can expect to lose your FlyerTalk posting privileges.

/Moderator

Analise

Over the weekend, I went on High Line for the first time. My friend and I entered at Gansevoort and walked to 30th St and then turned around and returned.

I think the idea of turning this former elevated freight train line into a park is such a great idea. The first part of the park up to 23rd Street is well planned. It is wide enough for a few paths. It goes through a building (or two?) as the train tracks did. I think the bleachers overlooking 10th Ave uptown are bizarre but, hey, people were sitting there FOCUSING on 10th Ave. I should say they were focused on their smartphones. I like the artists' stands. They've got some carnival "attraction" to see if you get dizzy walking into some miniature funhouse. (I passed on that.) The views of the Hudson, the Statue of Liberty, and much of skyline were beautiful.

Phase 2, however, I didn't like. The path was way too narrow and as such, the crowds going both directions were bottlenecked. To me, that defeats the purpose of being in a park. One wants to relax, not be stuck in bumper-to-bumper walking traffic. If it's crowded on a late November weekend, I can't imagine how mobbed it will be in the late spring and summer. Phase 2 was also quite ugly especially at the end. The walkway just ends with some gravel. You see the political football in front of you known as the Hudson Yards and, frankly, it's an eyesore until they build it. Phase 2 is an ugly catwalk. They need to work on that.

peersteve

Here's a view from an out-of-towner with interests in urban planning and rail history......

I've enjoyed walking the High Line as much for the people watching as for the rail side natural plantings (umm, nicely cultivated weeds)....there's always that fresh perspective from being elevated a bit, giving a new viewpoint to the everyday scenery......and that is an artistic-cultural-social purpose which is wonderful....(It also reminded me of boyhood days walking along rail lines in an escape from home.....rail lines that now connect the two halves of the National Lakeshore Park in NW Indiana.)

The High LIne primarily serves a promenade....a ribbon-like urban square...a place to stroll to see and be seen......if it was not in a currently trendy area, and an asset to real estate values, would it have been saved? The private sponsor aspect adds to the cachet...Should I be embarrassed to not be wearing something with a sponsor's logo while hiking the High Line?

If Manhattanites like strolling along abandoned rail lines and admiring the natural plantings, please look for "Rails to Trails" treks in other parts of the country. (There's one that runs near the PIT Airport Marriott which takes you through an old brick-lined tunnel.) Or come here to Oklahoma where we have many, many miles of "High Line" (only at ground level).....you bring a Zabar's picnic, and we'll supply the natural-gas-powered minivan!!!

Analise

Those extensive weeds grew on their own once the trains stopped using the rails in 1980.

It was the local residents who started the movement to save the elevated area from being taken down. If the local residents weren't from a 'trendy area', would that make a difference to you?

If you want to give money, feel free. We noticed a marble slab with the names of the major donors. That could be you if you feel so inclined.

That many enjoy the High Line seems to really annoy you.

nerd

You're limited by the width of the existing railway bed. What do are you suggesting they do to change that?

Analise

I would cut back on the extensive weed growth to widen the path. I understand it can't be as wide as the areas in which there are 4 sets of tracks but there is enough room to double the width of the size of the path.

peersteve

Aha! That's it exactly.....by design, wasn't the the High Line was meant to preserve that experience of walking the line, er, tracks in their abandoned, natural, weedy state? [http://www.thehighline.org/design/planting]That's what makes the High Line unique in Manhattan....anywhere else in the country, there are plenty of empty tracks with picturesque weeds....but seldom do they get corporate sponorship or trendy write-ups.

It's wonderful when what's unique or culturally interesting in an area gets preserved! The High Line may be just one of those Manhattan things which us folks in flyover land just don't get????? (Maybe if the next Woody Allen movie has its characters meeting and talking along the High Line?)

Landing Gear

Just for the recod, there are plenty of local residents who are unhappy that they an no longer open their window shades because of curious passersby.

Analise

Did you test your link first? Your supposition cannot be true since there are pathways of mostly concrete where people are to stay. Nobody is to walk on the weeds. In a few spots there is only metal and I don't mean the tracks but metal mesh. The park designers also put in a rectangular lawn in an area between 23rd and Gansevoort too. No weeds there. The park space is also used for artistic works to blend into everything.

They need to work on those 'picturesque weeds'.

The park designers really got it right below 23rd St. It's just great to walk up there between Gansevoort and 23rd. The bottleneck above 23rd just makes the experience negative. Woody Allen has been making European cities his backdrop for over a decade now.

AMDB7

Thanks to the OP for the first post in this thread - I enjoyed the photos and info, and it was exactly what I was looking for to help me with my next trip to NY in a couple of months. I didn't get to see the High Line before on my previous trips, so I'm definitely going to brave the cold (and snow, if it happens!) when I return. ^

As for the rest of the thread.....well that's mainly all a bit depressing really!

Analise

What do you find depressing? People giving their opinions on it that you might not want to read?

If you walk the High Line in the height of the cold weather, you might get that rare opportunity of NOT being in a crowded bottleneck. We like the cold so we might do the full high line once again. You should also go round trip to see the views from both directions. ^

AMDB7

Thanks Analise - that sounds like good advice about doing the round-trip. I'm actually hoping for a little bit of snow when I do the High Line....not too much to cause major disruption, but just enough. (We can all dream, eh!)

Wasn't having a dig at anyone in particular about finding the rest of the thread depressing, so hope you didn't take offence because it certainly wasn't aimed at you. It's just that after reading some of the personal comments that had been going back and forth I didn't think it was bringing much to the party, so to speak. But I wasn't aiming it at anyone having a friendly debate about the pros and cons.....