the high line

80 years ago, NYC's West side restoration project lifted dangerous street level New York Central Rail Road freight trains and tucked them safely several stories above ground. In addition to creating a 1.5 mile long unique structure, the High Line also created a similarly shaped swath of nonplussed tenement residents who would have quickly fallen in love with Ambien, had it appeared on the scene several decades to the left. When big oil barons shifted the nation's main mode of transport to interstate trucking (read: moving a stone wall rock-by-rock in favor of a wheelbarrow for the sake of profit), the High Line was abandoned. As the crystal ball did it's yo-yo act on top of One Times Square, mother nature began to have her way with the tracks. Office workers, tenants, and the like would glance out their windows overlooking the archaic rail road tracks and notice it's likeness to a wildflower speckled green caterpillar snaking through the city. Following the path of many a city roof, the former High Line is now being turned into a city park. Read more here. In reference to the Stockholm Subway Stories post below, I can only hope this project goes from being a public spaces reclamation to a public art exhibit...