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The
High Line—34th Street to Gansevoort Street
new york city
saved
threat: demolition
The High Line was built in the 1930s as
an elevated steel railway structure for freight trains to safely
bring goods into congested Manhattan. Until the High Line
was constructed, freight trains ran perilously down the middle
of Tenth Avenue, or “Death Avenue” as the treacherous
stretch of road was dubbed due to the number of fatal accidents
caused by the mix of rail traffic, vehicles and pedestrians. As
trucking gained popularity, the High Line was abandoned; its last
train made a delivery in 1980. Today, the 1.45-mile line
stands above Manhattan’s West Side, from 34th Street, along
the edge of the Hudson River, through the West Chelsea neighborhood
and into the heart of the Gansevoort Market Meat Packing District.
The High Line is a remarkable piece of transportation-related infrastructure;
unique to its period of construction and evocative of the transportation and
manufacturing history of the West Side. A group called the Friends of the High
Line is working to save the historic elevated railway from demolition. As
a public open space, the line would add much-needed parkland to Manhattan, and
connect three vibrant communities. It could also provide arts-related uses
and strengthen the area’s international reputation as a center of the art
world. If the High Line is demolished, these possibilities vanish forever.
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