The High Line (Joel Sternfeld, 2000)

NEW YORK, NY April 18, 2005 —New Yorkers can't yet walk on the High Line, the 22-block abandoned railway that is being converted into an elevated promenade. But soon they can get a first glimpse of what it might look like.

» Slide Show: High Line Preliminary Designs.

The High Line ends abruptly in the air, above Gansevoort Street, in the Meatpacking District. Soon-to-be-released plans show this section covered by a small grove of trees, ending in a glass wall, to prevent people from running off the edge.

Also planned for the first four blocks of the 60-foot-wide High Line are a marshy wetlands, prairie grasses and a lawn on which people can lie out or picnic.

Starting Wednesday, there will be an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art on the High Line that includes drawings, photographs, a videotape loop and a model.

The Friends of the High Line, the group working with the city to redevelop the 1-point-5 mile-long freight line, say construction will begin later this year. They hope the first section will be usable by 2007.