Leisure & Travel

The "Highline" is probably going to be one of the most interesting things that happens in NYC in the next couple of years. A little searching and summarizing gets us photos, renderings and information from Wikipedia and other sources online:

The "Highline" is an abandoned 1.45 mile (2.33 km) section of the former elevated freight railroad of the West Side Line, along the lower west side of New York City borough of Manhattan between 34th Street near the Javits Convention Center and Gansevoort Street in the West Village. The High Line was built in the early 1930s by the New York Central and has been unused since 1980.

The community-based group Friends of the High Line was established by neighborhood residents Robert Hammond and Joshua David, leading to plans to turn the High Line into an elevated park or greenway. In 2004, the New York City government committed $50 million to establish the proposed park.

On April 10, 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over a groundbreaking ceremony, marking the beginning of construction on the High Line project, turning it into an elevated park. The project is being undertaken by landscape firm Field Operations and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro. If work goes as planned, the southern section of the High Line, from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, will open to the public in early 2009.