The two founders of New York's famous High Line give NPR an exclusive tour of the park and provide the inside scoop on the creation of the park.
Two Chelsea (lower Manhattan) residents, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, met at a community meeting (a first for both of them) to decide on the future of the elevated tracks. Neither had a planning or urban design background, but they were not short on energy or determination. They are credited with 20-year effort to bring the elevated park to fruition (and have just co-authored High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky) due out this month.
"Mayor [Rudy] Giuliani really wanted to demolish the High Line," Hammond says. "One of his last acts in office - two days before he left - was signing the demolition order."
"(David and Hammond) wooed the Bloomberg administration with an economic feasibility study that showed the High Line would easily double its original $150 million cost in tax revenue from increased property values in the area. (That revenue figure has since been raised to nearly half a billion dollars.)" Bloomberg reversed the Giuliani demotion order.
The link includes a 13-photo gallery showing historic (freight line opened 1934 and was in operation till 1980) as well as contemporary photos).
Podcast: Take A Walking Tour Of The High Line
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