Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Our 2013 American Trip: The NYC High Line


Guess what, Folks.  We're at the end of our October trip to America, leaving you with the High Line of New York City as we wave good-bye to a fabulous vacation.  Just in time for the holidays!

It so happens this was at the end of our Columbia University day and the visit to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (last post).  So, as you'd guess, this was late afternoon - early evening on our last full day in NYC.

Because it was approximately 8km south from the cathedral to the High Line,
we took the subway.  How convenient!
(Astrid took the bottom-center pic of the lady in purple!)

And now we're talking about a one-mile walk along the former elevated 
New York Central Railroad spur, where two of three phases are completed.

Talk about someone with vision for a run-down section of the city!
Talk about transformation! People from all over the world come to see it and walk it!

It's like a park in the sky....

...full of art and leisure and rest against new architectural wonders springing up everywhere.
It's breathing new investment-life into the city.

Look what you get to see while you take your walk!


On all sides, you look below or across to what's there,
some almost at arm's reach.

 Wouldn't you be inspired to paint there?

And once back down on terra firma, world-famous icons are everywhere.
How can you not love New York City!

Many thanks to Robin who made all this possible for us.
We'd go back in a New-York minute!

16 comments:

  1. I love the High Line park! Lesley and I spent a most enjoyable time there, and then brunch at a restaurant close by to celebrate Mother's Day back in ... 2010, I think? It's a brilliant concept, unique and offering terrific views of the city. I like how artists camp out there, too.

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    1. It's just fabulous, Ruth. And to think they were planning to tear down that elevated railroad!

      BTW, when I saw my financial advisor in Atlanta (which was a couple days after seeing the High Line), he told me he had invested some of my portfolio in the NYC business real estate. I immediately told him about what's happening around the High Line...and was thrilled to have a bit part in it. Life is often stranger than fiction...as you already know. :)

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  2. Of course I so love this post and you did the High Line and the city PROUD! Love, love, love and can not wait for a return visit! xo

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    1. With all there is to see in NYC, Robin, we'll be going back for years to come...I hope. :) But of course, you'll always be the main reason!!!

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  3. I hope you realize that when the two men who saved the highline first found it, it had been out of service so long that it had become a meadow and was in full flower. I tried very hard to get up there and photograph before they gentrified it and all the neighborhoods that follow it. It is amazing how quickly the neighborhoods have changed, and turning it into a park was a brilliant idea, but what photographs it made before it was turned into a park. Somewhere there is a book of photos that the two guys who saved it made. NOTE: Five days is an absolute minimum to spend in NYC before you can claim tourista status. You'll just have to come back.

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    1. I hope you have enough pictures to make a book of the "before" part, Ted?? It would be right up your alley!

      And yes, 5 days is a minimum but maybe if we have a whole bunch of 5 days over the years, we'll feel acclimated? I hope so. :)

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  4. Sometimes I say, a tour-operator should give you a free ticket to anywhere. The information you give and the pictures you have, are absolute fabulous. Far better than in the brochures.
    The subway sometimes surprises me with the bautiful things we see at the wall and ceilings. A great way to travel.
    The High-Line is an open air museum and a wonderful place to hang out.
    We had the golden light, what a way to finish our trip to NY...... and yes, a whole bunch of 5 days visits, make us a 'regular'....... (grin)

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    1. I like the "open air museum" because that's kinda what it is, especially when you can look near and far to see everything around you that is NYC. What a place. Those two guys really had the vision for this place. And to think people come from all over the world to see it, as part of what NYC is all about.

      We're so lucky to have friends in "high places." :)

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  5. the repurposing of the highline is the best example i've seen so far; i hope other cities will follow this model.

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    1. I'm so glad someone had vision for this, Maria!!! it totally agree with you.

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  6. As I've already told our girl, Robin, the High Line would be at the top of my list to experience .... what a fantastic idea that actually came into being!

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    1. I so agree with you, Susan. We actually talked about you while we were together because we think all three of us (make that 4 with Astrid) would have a blast hanging out together! :)

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  7. I love the High Line. Juan Carlos did a series on it a while back and I got into researching it. Well done, as always, Ginnie.

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    1. We seem to be tracking Juan Carlos and Tom Wilson these days, Mary. It's fun. Soon you'll see the nude women statues Tom showed us at a hotel in Belgium...which we visited last weekend. I love that we all can share these photo shoots, virtually or in reality. :)

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  8. I like to look at your photos of New York. We went there just a month ago, and to some of the same places such as the Library. It is neat to see what pictures you took (I have not downloaded mine yet.) I recognized many of the buildings you showed on the Upper West Side as this is where we have been staying for the last few years. We always walk near the river of Riverside Park but not as high as Columbia University. It’s interesting to me to see what shots you select from the same sites that I visited. For example I don’t know if you remember I wrote a post on the High Line back in October 2010 (http://avagabonde.blogspot.com/2010/10/parks-nashville-and-new-york.html ) I had read that the people who got the idea for the High Line had first visited the Promenade Plantée in Paris – which we visited later on. Your photos are much nicer than mine – you always have the eye for the unique. I really like to see the same sites through your eyes.

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    1. Most interesting, Vagabonde. I actually had forgotten that you posted about the High Line. It's strange how that happens. The ol' antennae come out when you least expect it. I feel the same way about your own images...a different witness to the same thing. This is what makes photography and our personal stories so engaging. Thanks for sharing!

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