When the High Line opened in 2009, the elevated oasis was hailed as Manhattan’s biggest gift of green space since the creation of Central Park in 1857.
The abandoned railroad trestle, which stretches about 1.5 miles between Gansevoort and 34th Streets along Manhattan’s West Side, was long considered a rusty eyesore elected officials wanted credit for tearing down. The last train to traverse the High Line ran in 1980 and was carting frozen turkeys. The weedy railbed was later slated for demolition by Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But two friends who lived in the neighborhood, Robert Hammond and Joshua David, had the kooky idea of transforming the old railroad into a public park.
Flash forward a decade, and the High Line attracted more than 2 million visitors for its debut year. More than half of the visitors were locals, eager for a new way to enjoy New York.
“I never heard from Giuliani,” laughed Hammond, co-founder and executive director of Friends of the High Line. “I don’t want to defend him, but the chances of this happening were one in 100. It was pretty out there.”
Now the next phase, which will extend the short park by 10 blocks to West 30th Street, is set to open to the public within weeks.
“The highly anticipated second section is distinct from the first but no less remarkable,” said Mayor Bloomberg, who has provided $112 million of city funds for the High Line.
Hammond categorized the park extension as “much more urban. Section 1 has these great vistas onto the Hudson River. Section 2 cuts through buildings. People think it’s just going to be a repeat and an extension of Section 1, but it’s going to feel very different.”
akarni@nypost.com