Jeff Koons may want to hang a train over the High Line [1], but the park’s creators, Friends of the High Line [2], have decided to put a train back on the High Line [3] in order to keep up with the park’s extreme popularity. Because of the park’s growing crowds every summer, which are anticipated to double when the final section [4] is complete, the architects and engineers have decided it is time to put a people-mover style tram [5] on the High Line [3] to help pedestrians get from one side of the High Line [6] to the other. While the original rails will still be daintily planted with wildflowers and grasses, a high-speed levitating train line will be built alongside the park to transport tired and crowd-weary tourists the 1.3-miles, end to end.
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The success of the High Line [6] has brought a boom in business on the West Side, bringing with it a barrage of people. The A/C/E train line is a full three avenue blocks away from the High Line on 8th Avenue, and the streets below the High Line [9] are becoming clogged with pedestrians. Additionally, many tourists and locals have complained that the park itself is becoming congested, with slow tourists disrupting the fast-pace of New Yorkers.
“Many people just meander down the whole length of the park,” says Lisa Green, a New Yorker who likes to walk the High Line [6] to get to work. “It’s like, come on! I know that the park is pretty, but do you really need to walk in large hordes and stop and take photos every five feet? I think the new train will be a fantastic addition – you’ll be able to still see the park, but avoid the slow-poke tourists at the same time.”
Similarly, tourists to New York City have complained that the High Line [10] is too long and too arduous to walk without some assistance. Fran Nelson, a visitor to New York City’s High Line from Florida had this to say: “This High Line park is beautiful, but why did they have to make it so long? I wish there was some easier way to get from one end of it to another. I also wish there were more benches and more places to get food up here – a McDonalds would be nice.”
In a somewhat shocking turn of events, the Community Board unanimously voted in favor of the train, which also won the endorsement of Mayor Bloomberg [11]: “This modern train will make the world’s most popular park just that much more popular, while bringing New York City one step closer to a sustainable, green future.”
+ The High Line [12]
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