Two Chelsea (lower Manhattan) residents, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, met at a community meeting (a first for both of them) to decide on the future of the elevated tracks. Neither had a planning or urban design background, but they were not short on energy or determination. They are credited with 20-year effort to bring the elevated park to fruition (and have just co-authored High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky) due out this month.
"Mayor [Rudy] Giuliani really wanted to demolish the High Line," Hammond says. "One of his last acts in office - two days before he left - was signing the demolition order."
"(David and Hammond) wooed the Bloomberg administration with an economic feasibility study that showed the High Line would easily double its original $150 million cost in tax revenue from increased property values in the area. (That revenue figure has since been raised to nearly half a billion dollars.)" Bloomberg reversed the Giuliani demotion order.
The link includes a 13-photo gallery showing historic (freight line opened 1934 and was in operation till 1980) as well as contemporary photos).
Podcast: Take A Walking Tour Of The High Line
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High Line book (by its founders) due out at Oct. 28, NYC event
Minor correction to story above - here's the event where the authors, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, will give a talk, take questions, and sign copies of their new book, “High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky.”
LOCATION
92YTriBeCa
200 Hudson Street (below Canal Street)
"This High Line Program at 92YTribeca is open to people of all ages. Tickets cost $16 for members of Friends of the High Line, and $18 for non-members. Visit the 92YTribeca's Web site or call 212-601-1000 to purchase tickets."
[Sorry for this blatant promotion - but it is a benefit for the Friends of the High Line, a "501(c)(3) non-profit that advocated for the High Line's preservation when the structure was under threat of demolition."
Irvin Dawid, Palo Alto, CA