The High Line, New York

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Running between West 20th and West 30th Streets, the new stretch of the High Line has just opened, doubling the park in size. This aerial view is taken from the vantage of West 30th Street, looking south toward the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center site

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Like with the first section, the planting on the new stretch is inspired by the wild, self-seeded landscape that sprung up naturally on the High Line when the trains stopped running in 1980. Chelsea Thicket (pictured) is a densely planted area of trees and shrubs between West 20th and West 22nd Streets

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The design retains the original railroad tracks and Art Deco railings. For this section, named the 30th Street Cut-Out and Viewing Platform, the concrete decking has been removed to expose the steel grid work and street below

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Between West 25th and West 27th Streets, Falcone Flyover incorporates a metal walkway raised 8ft above the High Line, allowing groundcover plants to blanket the terrain below, and carrying visitors upward into a canopy of sumac and magnolia trees

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Aerial view of Falcone Flyover, at West 26th Street

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To the right of the High Line is Rainbow City, an environmental and interactive art installation by FriendsWithYou and presented by AOL, on view from June to early July at The Lot, a temporary public plaza at West 30th Street

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A meandering pathway passes by old and new architecture in West Chelsea, between West 24th and West 25th Streets

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23rd Street Lawn and Seating Steps, a gathering space between West 22nd and West 23rd Streets

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Wildflower Field, looking North toward West 29th Street, where the High Line begins a long, gentle curve toward the Hudson River

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Marking the opening of the new stretch of the High Line, Trisha Brown Dance Company staged a performance of Brown’s seminal work, ’Roof Piece’ from 1971, atop the surrounding buildings. New Yorkers gathered to watch the action
Roof Piece, 2011. courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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As one dancer began improvising fluid movement signals, these were swiftly picked up by the next dancer, so that the piece appeared to ricochet across the rooftops
Roof Piece, 2011. courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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Unable to see all the dancers at once, visitors strolled along the High Line to see them from different vantage points
Roof Piece, 2011. courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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Trisha Brown is an icon of posmodern dance. With strong Minimal roots, she creates performances that defy the limits of traditional dance and incorporate aspects from the visual arts
Roof Piece, 2011.courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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Brown’s work plays with the concept of space and physics, which lent it perfectly to the the architectural setting
Roof Piece, 2011. courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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This performance - also marking the 40th anniversary of Trisha Brown Dance Company - was the first time the work has been staged in its original roof top context since its premiere in 1971
Roof Piece, 2011. courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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Roof Piece was performed four times during the first days of the new section of the High Line’s opening, and is one of a series of works of art commissioned by Friends of the High Line
Roof Piece, 2011. courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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A dancer peforms in front of a sculpture by artist Kim Beck
Roof Piece, 2011. Photograph by Kevin Vast, courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and Friends of the High Line

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The original performance of ’Roof Piece’ by Trisha Brown in 1971
courtesy of the Trisha Brown Dance Company

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Other art commissions for the new stretch of the High Line include an architectural sculpture by Sarah Sze, titled ’Still Life with Landscape (Model for a Habitat)’, 2011
courtesy of Friends of the High Line

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It forms an open gateway that visitors can walk through, and its architecture acts as a bird, butterfly and insect observatory, with perches, feeding spots and bird baths
courtesy of Friends of the High Line

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’A Rail Road Artifact’ by Joel Sternfeld (30th St, May 2000, 2000/2010) is the first work in Landscape with Path, a series of photographs that will be presented on a large billboard next to the High Line at West 18th Street
Photograph by Bill Orcutt, courtesy of Friends of the High Line

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Opened in June 2009, the first stretch of the High Line park runs between Gansevoort Street and West 20th Street. The Chelsea Grasslands is a prairie-like lanscape between West 19th Street and West 20th Street

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The High Line is elevated 30ft above the street. This photograph looks east towards West 20th Street

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Gansevoort Slow Stair access point on the corner of Gansevoort Street and Washington Street

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Gansevoort End, Plaza, and stairs at Gansevoort and Washington Streets

From the archives
This photograph shows the High Line in 1934, the year it opened to trains

From the archives
The High Line was constructed in order to lift dangerous freight trains off the streets. Photographed from West 17th Street, looking north, in 1934

From the archives
When the trains stopped running in 1980, the tracks lay unused for three decades and it became a wild, self-seeded habitat, which inspired its transformation into a park. Photographed at 30th Street on a morning in May, 2000
Joel Sternfeld © 2000