Category: The High Line series

This is the last in my series written about my experience in walking The High Line, New York’s famed pedestrian walking park.

I have already shared much about this glorious adventure, so we are just down to the snippet sightings that I haven’t written about but that I feel are worth sharing.

The first image is the word LOVE spelled in English in large stack letters. I, of course, truly embraced the message this piece of art envoked for I believe more love is what our world sorely needs. Now that being said, directly behind the message in English, LOVE is also written, but this time in Hebrew. I was very moved by this display as I think it speaks volumes about unity and tolerance. Also, not seen in the photo but still apart of the same scene, and just as worthy to mention, was the same message, LOVE, this time spelled out in Spanish. No matter the language – the message is the same, and I thank these wonderful artists for conveying it to me and all the others who take this walk.

The second photo brought forth a belly laugh. It is a huge statue of Trump, dressed in a jailhouse jumpsuit and bound in chains. He is standing at a railing overlooking the City. No matter your party affiliation, the statement that this New York apartment owner is making will certainly make you chuckle, if nothing else. Divisive behavior delivers that type of reaction.

The last photo is the top of a tall building – its message simply says 1 Woman. There is much contemplation I feel in seeing this and I could probably go-on for days with my musings, but I think it is best that I leave the ponderings to you, the reader. I WILL leave you with this, however – One Woman – yep One Woman is all it takes.

I hope that you all will digest this post in the spirit it was offered. I loved being offered the opportunity to walk The High Line and discover these wonderful works of art and human statements. It will surely go down as one of my most favorite memories of New York (and believe me, I have many!)

Happy Saturday.

Whoever said ‘there are signs everywhere’ was correct.  And, viewing this collection of overhead signs from New York’s glorious elevated pedestrian park ‘The High Line’ gave me great thoughts to ponder.

The unrelated signage, obviously created by separate individuals, had a distinct collective feel to them. In the foreground, a vivid painting of rainbow colors superimposed by the images of Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi. Both of these great individual’s lives were spent in service to others, but in vastly different ways. Whereas Mother Teresa devoted her chosen life of social activism to the needy and poor, Mahatma Gandhi spent his life, right up until his assassination, working tirelessly on political activism in leading India’s campaign towards independence. Yet their ‘purpose’ was uncannily similar. Gandhi has been quoted as saying, “Happiness is found when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”, and Mother Teresa’s, by her vow to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor,” makes clear that a life of service to others is the key to greatness. Think of it this way, Gandhi’s quote is a call to take action by aligning thoughts, words and deeds; and Mother Teresa through her deeds puts into action her call to do good.

The next board over in the photograph was the most stirring to me. It was a depiction and translation of a book inscription found in a relic old volume. Originally written in Arabic and dated March 1892, the translation tells us of a man, Fathallah Saad, who by the inscription, claimed ownership to a book that he had bought using his own money. So many images ran through my head in reading this billboard sign. Was this gentleman an Arab or an Egyptian or Palestinian? And what experiences did he have that lead to this inscription? Was it a part of his culture to claim ownership to a book, and was reading a book so important to him that he felt his ownership must be established in black and white?

The final board hovering over in the right margin is of a Mexican national speaking to the citizens of the United States, “A Wall divides more than just people. There are over 800 species that share the border. #keeptheborderWILD.” This sign is so representative of our country’s current events; it truly leaves one with the idea to look at an issue from another point of view. It doesn’t mean that you or I have to change our stance on the issue, but asks us to just consider another side of it when deliberating. I find that challenge refreshing.

I love the thought provoking messages I received in viewing these signs from the wonderful elevated vantage point of The High Line!

The High Line, a linear pedestrian park re-imagined from an abandon railroad line, is a spectacular way to experience the west side of Manhattan.

The park is adorned with interesting contemporary art and sculpture that has been commissioned in an effort to spark productive dialogue from its viewers. The High Line is the only park in New York City with a dedicated multi-media art program. With present works by national and international artists, the commissions established give the artists an emerging voice in both a creative and provocative way.

I was captivated by this particular art display where women of all skin colors were represented. My imagination was running wild with interpretation as I stood viewing the ‘doors’ strategically placed in between the old abandon rail tracks. Walking ‘The High Line’ from north to south, the first door you encounter seems to represent an Asian woman walking forward with purpose, and perhaps she has just walked through her door which is set to close behind her. In the same scene, another door, this one depicting a brown skin woman of perhaps Indian descent seemingly poised at the her door, hand on her hip, her face wearing an inquisitve look.

The next set of doors a walker encounters is a triad. The first illustrates what seems to be an African woman carrying her wares in a basket which is practical to her culture and well-suited to the objects she carries. Next in line, a white skinned woman dressed in 60’s mod fashion, who seems to be at the door’s threshold standing firmly before she proceeds. And last in the door series is a purposeful woman, who could be of any descent (or perhaps depicted as a ‘representation’ of all women), this woman is walking forward with great determination. Her hand gesture is instructing those approaching in her path. Her stride is as ambitious as her bold jewelry.

I loved the opportunity to view this display and ponder the artist’s imagination in creating it. When I finally walked away from it, I loved the feelings that it envoked in me. I felt enormously proud to be a woman, proud to know that there is a strong sisterhood which encompasses all of our cultures, circumstances, and skin-colors.

Yes, ladies, ‘We’ve come a long way, baby!’

It was a picture perfect summer day on the west side of Manhattan when I was first invited to walk The High Line. The circumstances to the invite made it a ‘full steam ahead acceptance’, and off we went!

The High Line – for those of you who have never heard of it – is a re-purposed section of abandoned rail tracks, rescued from extinction to become a beautiful and natural 1.45 mile linear pedestrian park.

Years in the making, this viaduct which runs from the meat packing district of Greenwich Village north to Chelsea, is now a public space created from once useful elevated rail tracks. This New York Central Railway line, which was constructed in the mid-19th century to transport freight of all sorts, was originally run on street-level tracks. The rail traffic, however, to this busy section of the City, made the area treacherous to pedestrian traffic and resulted in many deaths. In the interest of public safety, and, since the warehouses located in Chelsea were dependent upon their deliveries, the Railroad Commission elected to raise the tracks to an elevated height of 30′ high, a full three stories up; an innovative solution to the turn of the century urban growth of New York.

In 1933, the first train ran on The High Line—which was then called the “West Side Elevated Line.” A few of the tracks were cut directly through some of the buildings, creating easy off-loads of freight for factories like Nabisco (a space which is now the home of Chelsea Market.)

In the mid-1960’s -1970’s, train use dwindled due to the rise in over-the-road trucking. As the decline continued through the 1970’s, some parts of the Line were demolished. By the time the calendar rolled around to the 1980’s, all traffic was stopped and calls for a total demolition of the structure soon followed.

That might have been the end of the story had it not been for the bright and creative minds of two innovative young men who stepped forward in the late 1990’s. Rallying and campaigning for the area to be deeded back to the City for use as public space, a foundation was formed named Friends of The High Line. The design and construction was undertaken from these efforts and, right before the neighboring residents’ very eyes, a new City park was established.

But, the High Line it is more than just a park. Its glory is in its variety. Perched 30-feet up overlooking gothic revival red brick warehouses and looming skyscrapers, the technological marvels of glass and steel co-mingled with the centuries old relics, well…one gets a sense of time traveling.

Now, I will be the first to say that New York City knows a thing or two about parks. This is the city that pioneered solutions by building bridges, subways, public spaces, and towering buildings to power it. In walking through this park, I felt connected to the City’s history and the immigrant love and labor that built her. It was truly a magical experience for this first time High Line walker.

So, if you are ever in New York City and you get asked….Why don’t we walk The High Line? Say “YES!”, it is a delightful adventure.

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Footnote – In viewing the first photograph you might note a long string of people lined up along the building on the right. These folks were waiting, some for two days straight, for admittance to Taylor Swift’s Lover Experience Pop-up! The Twitter feed and Instagram photos were screaming that day with all the Swiftie’s posts and gloats! And, this this old gal with her sore leg muscles, watching like a voyeur from above, surely did get an injection of generational time travel watching that event unfold!