Highline

The city is abuzz right now with all sorts of good energy.  Summer is here, the sun is shining and wedding venues are about to get much more impossible to book as a great deal of New Yorkers can now officially get hitched.  It's amazing, really.  

The other big news that has everyone is so happy is that the High Line park opened a new section of track.  For those of you who aren't local, this is a park that has been a work in progress for years.  It was the main elevated freight railroad in Manhattan from north-south.  It was abandoned and a bit of an eyesore since the early 80's, but now it's a fancy new park that everyone is flocking to.

Part of the new park has an honest-to-goodness lawn.



There are a couple of viewing platforms that sit over busy Manhattan streets.  Kind of a unique view to watch the traffic roll by.

They kept a lot of the original railroad tracks and used them as planting beds.  On the "older" parts of the park, the vegetation has really grown in and it's harder to see.  It's really such a wonderful concept.  You can kind of lose yourself into thinking you're meandering in a country meadow in some sections, but, surprise, you're on an elevated railroad track.

I spied some vintage 1980's graffiti:  



I just think they did such a great job incorporating nature into such an unusual structure.  The park now stretches for more than a mile on the west side.



At the north end, there is a crazy cute playground.


At the south end, the park gets wider and there are more gathering spots around the Standard Hotel.





This is a great space to meet up with friends, and the Spin City group has more or less turned this into their summer home.





We spin, we knit, we chat, we eat popsicles from the People's Pops stand nearby while watching the sun go down over New Jersey.  It's lovely.