The High Line

One of my favorite things about New York is the park space. Maybe it's just because it's so nice to get off the sidewalks and surround yourself in some greenery for a change, or maybe New York just has really awesome parks, or maybe a little bit of both. Regardless, I just love the parks in this city. Bryant Park is probably my favorite, with their holiday market at Christmas and fun events on the big grassy lawn in the summer. Central Park is always lovely, of course, and there's so much of it to explore. There are also tons of gorgeous park spaces along the Hudson River that we've spent some time at, as well as many, many others.

Last weekend Eric suggested we check out another park, a new one that just opened last year: the High Line. The High Line is actually an old elevated railroad line that was built in the 1930s to keep dangerous trains off the busy streets of the Meatpacking District. The High Line has not been in use since 1980, and New York was set to tear it down until a group called "Friends of the High Line" intervened. The abandoned railroad tracks have now been repurposed as a park in the sky, which I think is pretty cool. What a neat way to "recycle" a part of New York history, and create a new park space in the process!

I really liked this park, too. It was interesting to still be able to see the old railroad tracks along the sides of the walkway, although now they are covered in greenery and flowers. It's cool to have a park elevated above the street, with great views of both the street below and the skyline, including the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building in the distance. There are lots of places to sit and relax, including an amphitheater area sunk below the main walkways, looking out over the street. There were also wooden lounge chairs to relax on and art installations to enjoy, plus places to get some lunch should the mood strike.

Me on the High Line - it actually runs through that big building in the distance!

Old railroad tracks

Looking out over W. 14th Street

Old tracks running directly into a warehouse for deliveries

Amphitheater seating

Leaning against the glass over the street at the base of the amphitheater

Relaxing in the amphitheater

Views of the city

The park is actually still a work in progress. The second half of the railway is still being converted, and is scheduled to open in 2011. For now, the northern part of the High Line is fenced off and adorned with this really cool art piece.

"Autumn on the Hudson Valley with Branches" by Valerie Hegarty (2009)
The High Line website describes this: "Hegarty's painting is based on Jasper Francis Cropsey's Autumn on the Hudson River of 1860, a bucolic landscape that shows none of the affects of the Industrial Revolution. Hegarty's canvas is tattered and frayed, and the partially exposed stretcher bars appear to be morphing into tree branches, as if reverting back to their natural state."

To-be-completed portion of the High Line

After wandering through the High Line, we debated how to spend the rest of that gorgeous afternoon. We ended up walking east to the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park, passing a street festival on the way. Welcome back, street festivals! That means spring is here! Oh, how I love a good street festival.

At the Flatiron Building, we saw a new art installation - statues of naked men perched on the edges of buildings in the area. A little Googling tells me the artist is Antony Gormley, and the statues have been placed around Madison Square Park, on the Flatiron Building, and also on the Empire State Building. These statues look a little freaky - at first glance it would be easy to think they are real people contemplating a jump off a rooftop.

One of the naked men statues on a rooftop east of the Flatiron

And of course, the Flatiron itself

And that was our fun Sunday afternoon last weekend!

Today I am off to the dermatologist to get my last set of stitches removed (freedom, hooray!), then I'll be spending the day with an out-of-town friend. Tonight Achilles must be dropped off at camp, because tomorrow we're heading to L.A.! We're really excited. We have a tentative itinerary worked out: we'll arrive in L.A. mid-morning, get to our hotel to drop our things off, and then head into Hollywood to see touristy things like the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood sign. On Sunday, we'll be going to the Dodgers game so Eric can see another baseball stadium. Monday is pretty open, we'll just see what we feel like doing that day - maybe a studio tour, maybe a museum, who knows? Then Tuesday, we'll be back in New York by mid-afternoon to rescue the dog. I also have some work next week, so right when we get back I'll be diving into jury questionnaires. All in all, it sounds like a pretty awesome week.

Have a great weekend, all! I'll be back to tell you about our L.A. trip as soon as I can manage!