The High Line and the Standard Hotel

The High Line is a trendy new park that has popped up between Chelsea and the Meat Packing District in New York City. It used to be an old railroad line used for moving freight on the west side of New York City. It was initially developed in the 1930's in response to the high amount of accidents happening because of ground level freight tracks. In fact, the accidents were so frequent that locals re-named the strip "Death Avenue" after it was first built in 1847. The city responded by elevating 13 miles of the railways off of the ground level.

The original tracks had dilapidated quite a bit, and in the late 1990's, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani slated them for demolition. However, a green preservation group called "Friends of the High Line" noticed the the riveted steel structure itself was still in fairly good structural condition. They lobbied for a green space and public park to be put on top of the tracks. In 2004, under the leadership of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city donated $50 million to rehabilitating 1.45 miles of the line for public use.

The High Line is still under construction but much of the space is already serving as a public park for New Yorkers and tourists alike. The landscaping firm of James Corner Field Operations and the architectural firm of Diller, Scofidio, and Renfro have come up with a successful design so far. It will eventually span the area from the Javits Convention Center near the West Side Yard through the neighborhood of Chelsea and end in the Meat Packing District in the West Village .