Phase 3 of the High Line, New York City’s ambitious landscape redevelopment project, opened on Saturday, September 20. Since 2006, the High Line has been converting abandoned elevated railroad tressles along 1.45 miles of Manhattan’s Lower West Side into a free public park that parallels the Hudson River.
The first two sections of the park already draw more than five million visitors a year, according Crain’s New York.
The $35 million Phase 3, known as High Line at the Rail Yards, broke ground September 20, 2012, and officially opened to the public on September 21, according to Friends of the High Line, the nonprofit organization that has raised most of the money for the project. This half-mile stretch runs from West 30th Street at 10th Avenue (previously the railway’s northern terminus) to West 34th Street at 12th Avenue, across from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
James Corner Field Operations is the High Line’s designer, working with Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Piet Oudolf.
The newest section—which curves around the 26-acre Hudson Yards real estate development—incorporates some of the old tracks and switches (made safe for pedestrian passage and play), as well as wild plant life.
The opening ceremonies included New York Senator Charles Schumer, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, High Line founder and president Joshua Davis, and actor Edward Norton, who is on Friends of the High Line’s board.
The finishing touch will be put in place next year with the installation of a short stub along 10th Avenue and 30th Street, according to the real estate website Curbed.
Related Stories
| Sep 23, 2011
ABI turns positive after four monthly declines
On the heels of a period of weakness in design activity, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) took a sudden upturn in August.
| Sep 23, 2011
Under 40 Leadership Summit
Building Design+Construction’s Under 40 Leadership Summit takes place October 26-28, 2011 Hotel at the Monteleone in New Orleans. Discounted hotel rate deadline: October 2, 2011.
| Sep 20, 2011
Jeanne Gang wins MacArthur Fellowship
Jeanne Gang, a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship winner described by the foundation as "an architect challenging the aesthetic and technical possibilities of the art form in a wide range of structures."
| Sep 20, 2011
Francis Cauffman wins two IDA design awards
The PA/NJ/DE Chapter of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) has presented the Francis Cauffman architecture firm with two awards: the Best Interior Design of 2011 for the W. L. Gore offices in Elkton, MD, and the President’s Choice Award for St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, NJ.
| Sep 20, 2011
PPG, Pleotint to co-market environmentally adaptive glazing technology with low-e glass
Laminated between two lites of glass, SRT interlayer may be used monolithically or within an insulating glass unit.
| Sep 19, 2011
Portland team hired as LEED and commissioning consultants for $5.5B downtown sustainable project in Qatar
The $5.5 billion sustainable downtown regeneration project underway by Msheireb Properties will transform a 76 acres site at the centre of Doha, Qatar’s capital city, recreating a way of living that is rooted in Qatari culture, attracting residents back to the city center and reversing the trend for decentralization.
| Sep 16, 2011
Chicago Architecture Foundation partners with seven renowned architects to re-imagine Chicago neighborhoods
Design on the Edge presents plans created by seven teams of nine Chicago-based architects to reimagine seven of the city’s neighborhoods to encourage street life, retail districts and dense housing around the existing “L” transit system.
| Sep 14, 2011
USGBC L.A. Chapter's Green Gala features Jason McLennan as keynote speaker
The Los Angeles Chapter of the nonprofit USGBC will launch its Sustainable Innovation Awards this year during the chapter's 7th Annual Green Gala on Thursday, November 3.
| Sep 14, 2011
Lend Lease’s role in 9/11 Memorial & Museum
Lend Lease is honored to be the general contractor for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum project at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
| Sep 14, 2011
Thornton Tomasetti’s Poon named to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Board of Trustees
During his 30-plus years of experience, Poon has been responsible for the design and construction of super high-rise structures, mixed-used buildings, hotels, airports, arenas and residential buildings worldwide.