On the High Line

Annik LaFarge (Author) Annik LaFarge has been writing about the High Line since 2009, beginning with the blog LivinTheHighLine.com, selected by the Columbia University Libraries Web Resources Collection Program for inclusion in the Avery Library Historic Preservation and Urban Planning web archive. LaFarge is a Trustee and Chair for the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and author of Chasing Chopin: A Musical Journey Across Three Centuries, Four Countries, and a Half-Dozen Revolutions.

Introducing the High Line

New Preface to the Third Edition | xiii

Prologue: The Story of the High Line, from Elevated Railroad to Linear Park | xxii

Foreword by Rick Darke | xxxiv

Joel Sternfeld | xxxix

Designing the High Line | xli

Piet Oudolf and the Plants of the High Line | xlvi

Section One: Gansevoort–14th Street

The Slow Stairs, 5 • Friends of the High Line, 6 • Gansevoort Woodland, 9 • Mannahatta

Then and Now, 11 • The Manhattan Refrigerating Company, 12 • Washington Grasslands,

13 • Wildlife on the High Line, 14 • Whitney Museum , 15 • Gansevoort Pumping Station, 18

• Pier 52 and Day’s End, 19 • Thirteenth Avenue and Gansevoort Peninsula, 20 • Pier 54 and

Little Island, 24 • The Meatpacking District, 27 • 14th Street Passage, 29 • P. F. Collier &

Son, 30 • The Louche Hotels, 31

Section Two: 14th–16th Streets

The Bog, 37 • Piers and Pile Fields, 38 • Pier 57, 39 • The Sundeck, 40 • Hoboken Terminal,

40 • Chelsea Market, 41 • The Northern and Southern Spurs, 44 • Merchants Refrigerating

Company Warehouse, 46 • Piet Oudolf’s Favorites, 46 • The Spring Cutback, 48 • Other

High Lines, 50

Section Three: 16th–20th Streets

Death Avenue Amphitheater, 59 • The West Side Cowboy, 59 • Tenth Avenue Square, 62 •

Chelsea Grasslands, 63 • New Architecture along the High Line, Part One, 64 • Tenement

Houses, 68 • High Line Art, 70 • Astilbe, Allium ‘Mt. Everest’, Staghorn Sumac, 70 • The

Chelsea Piers, 71 • Grasses, 73 • Publishing and Printing, 75 • Breaking the Grid, 75 •

Clement Clarke Moore—a.k.a. Seal—Park , 76 • Guardian Angel Church, 77 • Holly on the

High Line, 78

Section Four: 20th–23rd Streets

West Chelsea, 81 • The Chelsea Thicket, 82 • General Theological Seminary, 82 • The Art Deco

Prison, 83 • The Life Savers Building, 84 • The Warehouse Law, 85 • Center of Amusements, 86

• The Spears Building and Seating Steps, 87 • The Prairie Lawn, 88 • The Chelsea Hotel, 90 •

The Empire Diner, 91 • The Gallery and Art Scene, 92 • London Terrace Apartments, 94 • The

Original People’s Park, 95

Section Five: 23rd–26th Streets

The Slow Park, 99 • New Architecture along the High Line, Part Two, 99 • The Flyover, 102 •

Tree of Heaven: From Beloved to Bemoaned, 103 • From Global Grocer to World School, 104

• H. Wolff Book Manufacturing Co., 105 • Magnolias, 106 • The Modern Luxury Cruise, 107 •

The Great Spires, 108 • Water Towers, 110 • Heavy Metal in West Chelsea, 111 • Otis Elevator

Company, 112 • Pharmacy in the Sky, 114 • The Lighterage Era, 114

Section Six: 26th–30th Streets

The Wildflower Field, 121 • The High Line Zeitgeist, 121 • Peter Obletz, 123 • New York’s

Lumberyard, 124 • The Radial Bench, 124 • “Make the Place Sittable”, 125 • 30th Street Cut-

Out, 126 • The Central Stores Complex, 126 • The Morgan General Mail Facility and Abraham

Lincoln, 128

Section Seven: The Interim Walkway

The Crossroads, 135 • The Eastern Rail Yards and the Rail Track Walk, 135 • Keep It Wild: The

Interim Walkway, 137 • The Divine Wild Carrot, 139 • Hell’s Kitchen, 140 • The Javits Center

Green Roof, 141 • 34th Street Entry Plaza and CSX Transportation Gate, 142

Section Eight: 30th–34th Streets

The Shed, 147 • Hudson Yards, 147 • Tenth Avenue Spur, 148 • Westyard Distribution Center,

150 • The Moynihan Connector, 151 • The Time Line, 154

Acknowledgments | 157

Notes | 161

Bibliography | 175

Index | 179