Abandoned overhead railway line becomes New York's park in the sky

A section of an abandoned overhead railway line in New York City will open to the public today as a landscaped park, the first of its kind in the United States.

Yesterday mayor Michael Bloomberg helped unveil the first half-mile section of the High Line park, a transformed railway line sitting three storeys above the city’s streets that was abandoned nearly 30 years ago.

The High Line stretches 1.5 miles from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District all the way up to 30th Street along Manhattan’s West Side, with views of the city and the Hudson river, including landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

The line stands as high as 30ft and is 60ft wide in some places.

The total cost is €110m, funded in part by private donations, as well as the city, state and government.

Many of those at the opening ceremony noted how the High Line provided a new window for viewing the city’s famous skyline.

“Any time you usually look at the city from high up, you’re inside a building,” said New York City Council speaker Christine Quinn. “But to be able to look from an elevated level and be outdoors is just a wonderful feeling.”

Paris recently converted a rail viaduct into an elevated park called the Promenade Plantee, but officials say the High Line park is the first of its kind in the United States. Similar projects are being considered in Philadelphia and Chicago.

The New York railway line was built in the 1930s for freight trains carrying dairy products, produce and meats to warehouses and factories in the area, to avoid the increasingly crowded streets, which had become so treacherous for pedestrians that 10th Avenue was nicknamed “Death Avenue”.

The last train ran on the High Line in 1980 and for many years, community groups and parks enthusiasts sought to have it made into a public space.

But some residents wanted it torn down.

“People called it a blight, eyesore, crumbling relic,” Mr Bloomberg said.

It was nearly destroyed in 2001, but a judge blocked those plans after community activists and the city council sued.

Construction on the project began in 2006 and the first section, from Gansevoort to 20th streets, will open today and the part from 20th to 30th streets is expected to open next year.

The park is a mix of concrete and green landscaping, with features that include a wading pool and trees in some areas. Designers incorporated the railway tracks into some of the landscaping, as well as preserving many of the wild flowers and other plants that have grown there for years.

There will be access points every two to three streets, including some with lifts. The park will be open from 7am to 10pm.