High Line Park

Two years ago on Father's Day (June 19, 2011), my daughter took me on my first walk through High Line Park, which was created on an old elevated railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan  and extends roughly from 14th Street to 30th Street. The park is very narrow and snakes through what used to be a thriving industrial area, but is now predominantly residential.

You can see remnants of the old industrial area bordering the park:

Or on the side streets:

Here's the view facing west toward the Hudson River:

What struck me most about the park was the way it passes so closely by the windows and fire escapes of numerous apartment dwellers:

I can't imagine living that close to a public thoroughfare. I'd go nuts if there were thousands of people passing my window every day. I couldn't even live on the first floor of a building that looked out on the sidewalk. As it is, my apartment is on the sixth floor of a building that faces a public park, but the park is covered by trees and bushes from spring to fall so I don't have to see any parkgoers, although when Little League is in session, I can hear the games. Here's a shot from my window:

Anyway, back to High Line Park. You can still see the old railroad tracks in some spots:

I believe the train that used to run on these tracks was strictly for transporting cargo from the docks to various factories and warehouses. That's what I remember. I haven't yet bothered to look it up and confirm it.

You get some interesting urban landscapes from the vantage point of the park:

And how about this block party/street festival in progress when we passed:

Best of all, check out this unusual angle of the Empire State Building, found ONLY from this vantage point:

Here's the northern end of the park, which at that point, reached to 30th Street:

As you can see, the park lends itself most to interesting shots of things you can see looking out from within the park, as opposed to things you can see that are actually in the park!

Also, it was quite crowded that day and took a long time to walk through on those narrow pathways in the hot sun.

There wasn't much in the way of shade:

And, finally, here's how it looks from the street below:

P.S. An article in The New York Times on Monday, June 10, 2013, describes the plans to extend the park to 34th Street and 12th Avenue. Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/nyregion/high-line-offers-a-walk-on-the-wild-side.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0