Walking the New York High Line in Spring: Photos

The High Line is a New York City park and strolling area whose first phase opened in 2009. It occupies an old, abandoned elevated rail track on which industrial trains hauled cargo to the city's Meatpacking District from the 1930s until 1980, when it went out of use. The High Line stood there, abandoned and decrepit, for decades until some civic minded folks saw the elevated railbed's potential as an urban park and saved it from being demolished.

Phase One of the High Line stretches from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street. It winds past old warehouses and meatpacking plants, the sexy Standard Hotel and office buildings. A very trendy fashion shopping area and restaurant and bar scene has popped up around the base of the Highline.

Phase 2 of the High Line goes from West 20th Street to West 30th Street and opened in the spring of 2011.

There's lots to see on the High Line There are revolving exhibitions of public art and art installations. New Yorkers come here to read or stroll or sun or take their lunches. There are countless plants and trees which grew in quickly. And the views of New York and across the Hudson to New Jersey are unlike any you will see elsewhere in the city!

When it is finished, the High Line will stretch for 1.45 miles, from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street. The High Line is owned by New York City. James Corner Field Operations designed the landscaping, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro was the architect of the High Line.

The High Line Park is open from 7:00 A.M. until 10 P.M. in spring, summer and fall; it is open from 7 until 8 P.M. in winter. Dogs are not allowed on the High Line.