A (short) walk in the park

It seemed like a good thing to do today; the rain having deposited its last drop for the weekend. But approaching the entrance to the newly opened High Line Park I was rather taken aback by the people waiting in line to gain entrance. I can’t recall ever needing to wait in line to get into a public park. But I had made the commitment to subway over to the far west side of Manhattan and there was no going back; so I dutifully did my, well, duty and queued-up like the good citizen I am. It was a mere bag-of-shells however, and I needn’t have worried because within five minutes I was trudging up the 45 stairs.

As soon as I lowered my expectations I realized that the High Line is really pretty nice. Thirty feet above street level this manmade urban haven (which opened to the public about a month ago) was built from scratch atop an abandoned railroad trestle and runs from Gansevoort St. up to West 20th and meanders back and forth just as the track did when it was in use. As a matter of fact the designers deliberately left a few sections of the (rusty) track and they can be glimpsed through the 100 species (it says here) of flora ensconced along the length of the park. Might I say at this point that our current tropical weather has made them flourish almost to the point of obstructionism. I’m sure a development not planned in advance.

The urban views are a bit less than spectacular; after all it’s only 30 feet up, but you get an occasional glimpse of the Hudson River; a birds (low flying) eye view of the numbered streets as you make your way north, and lots of undistinguished rooftops of what is still a mostly industrialized neighborhood. The park actually runs under three buildings; one a fairly high-end hotel, and two that were obviously there when the railroad was in use. Along the way I counted at least 30 building sites in various stages of construction and I suspect the existence of the High Line might even be influencing some of this influx.

But viewing architecture is not the present thrust of this park anyway or the reason for taking the stroll which is, obviously, an easy one being only the equivalent of about eight short city blocks. Right now one’s main focus is on the park itself. Along with the aforementioned rusty tracks and plants there are some pretty wonderfully designed benches and little off-shoots of walkway to take a rest from the constantly flowing stream of humankind. Actually the benches are way cool; very sleek and, dare I say, contemporary with some being lounge-chair shaped and very inviting for a sit-down even if you’re not inclined to recline at that particular moment. I sat on one just because I could but moved on fairly quickly. I didn’t notice anybody really lollygagging around; making a day of it. There is also an area of bleacher seating floating over 10th Avenue so you can watch vehicular traffic flowing below; I guess some people enjoy that. Anyway, I can see taking the Times crossword with me next time and finding a comfortable spot to spit into the breeze for a half-hour, if moved to do so.

The second section of the High Line is under construction as we speak (you can look through the fence) and the walkway will continue up to West 30th upon completion. A third section is planned but the funds have yet to be allocated and it might be a while for that to happen since the first two sections cost in the neighborhood of $144 million and pockets aren’t as deep as they used to be. Well, duh..

Overall the High Line might not be the hottest destination to take your Aunt-Millie-from-out-of-town but, still, it’s different enough to want to share with the more, er, sophisticated (horrible word) of your acquaintanceships.

Did I mention the benches, lounges and bleachers are really beautiful? Doing a little Goggle-research I learned they are manufactured using tens of thousands of board feet of a Brazilian and Peruvian rainforest wood called ipe. Of course this has raised the ire of our green friends and I am certainly sympathetic with their outrage but I guess it’s too late now for Section One. Do I hear recycled plastic lumber in our future?