This morning I walked along the Highline. This is an old railway line, running at roof-level down the west side of Manhattan from 34th St to 14th St. It was built in the 1920s to replace a previous set of street-level lines which had become so dangerous that the line had become known as the “Widows Line”. The line itself was a freight-only line – goods inwards to southern Manhattan, including raw materials and supplies for the various manufacturing industries along that side of Manhattan, and of course the manufactured products were brought out on the line.
During the 60s and 70s use of the line greatly diminished as manufacturing in Manhattan died out, and by the 80s the line had been abandoned. But many of its structures were left intact and various people started exploring the overgrown tracks. In the end the city agreed to convert the line to a park. The line was handed over to the Friends of the Highline, and as a result of money that it has raised it has been cleaned up, a walkway installed, various viewpoints created, and access points installed.
I’d read about it a couple of years ago and definitely wanted to walk it, and today I have. It’s only a mile or so long, but it does give you a unique perspective into Manhattan.
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