9 Responses to “Spaces under bridges require lots of money to look good”

1. Doug Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 3:18 pm

   This is the only argument in this list that even remotely holds water. While there have been some interventions under the highline, over time I hope they do pay more attention to the underside. The problem is one of dispersed ownership and property interests. I hope the city looks at what was done under the Promenade Plantee for inspiration.

2. david Says:
   June 16th, 2009 at 1:01 pm

   I agree that the Promenade Plantee is spectacular. However, there are 2 major differences between it and the High Line:

   1. The “undercarriage” of the the Promenade Plantee is made up of beautiful masonry arches that are easily converted into programable spaces. See here: http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/viaduc-des-arts.htm

   2. The Promenade Plantee is in Paris. Anyone who has been there in any season is struck by the attention to detail that the French pay to their gardens. I worry that the High Line will not be kept up quite as well. The comparable public gardens in New York are mainly pay-to-enter. The French do not even walk on the grass in their parks!

3. Doug Says:
   June 16th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

   The undercarriage of the High Line is not “beautiful masony arches”, but it is “beautiful” riveted steel. Well-crafted, rich in detail, just of a different era. Of course, one’s interpretation is subjective. It is perhaps a bit less easily convertible, but it can (and is) being done as evidenced in some of these photos:

   http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=4266915

   I have to disagree with your second point as well. I was at the Promenade Plantee last spring and it is far from in perfect condition. There were many areas that were not as well kept and lots of graffitti in others. Still, overall, it was a very enjoyable and well used space.

   Public space in Paris is very much like public space in any other large, cosmopolitan city.

4. admin Says:
   June 19th, 2009 at 6:19 am

   I’d have to agree with Doug on this one. Although the Promenade Plantee is more successful in schematic terms (linking places together, easily renovated underside) the whole thing is a bit twee, at least the planting and industrial overtones of the High Line have some ‘bite’, like the city of New York itself.

   On Doug’s last point, however, I disagree “Public space in Paris is very much like public space in any other large, cosmopolitan city.”

   Public space in Paris often has huge government subsidy, the Highline doesn’t and New York doesn’t have a tradition of public spending to the same degree. In addition, the amount of regional money available in future, in New York is going to be massively diminished in the next 5-10 years, because 40% of the output of Wall Street turned out to be fictitious.

5. Robert Says:
   June 22nd, 2009 at 12:24 pm

   I am confident that the parks designers will develop a plan for what lies beneath it. They might consider the following:

   Art Installations
   Plant Nursaries
   Jogging and cycling trails
   Small busines Incubator spaces
   Composting and recycling centers

   Let imagination conquer inertia!

6. thomas Says:
   June 24th, 2009 at 5:34 pm

   The Steven Holl design for the highline had fire- escape- like spiral stairways, which connected the
   promenade to the spaces below it. I think the idea was that the stairways would be installed at intervals running the length of the highline. the stairways have a mirroring effect, that it echoes the city’s many subway stairwells. Just a reminder that the city exists on many levels.

7. Clyde Says:
   July 11th, 2009 at 5:56 pm

   Anyone familiar with the neighborhoods below the High Line can tell you they have hardly been left to decline. You would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the city with such explosive transformation and ‘improvement’ over the last decade than Meatpacking and West Chelsea.

8. Daniel CG Says:
   July 19th, 2009 at 3:56 pm

   Im going with Clyde on this one, well halfway.
   While the area underneath the highline has been under significant development in the past few years, it may not continue to be the city’s darling.

   Though against most of the others, Ill point out that the rail lines that the high line is built on have been there for decades, this was not a park placed into the sky but rather a place in the sky made into a park. The area has had the structure there for quite a long time, the only adjustment will be to higher foot traffic in the area in the summer.

   I was there this week with some friends who do graffiti art, and points made were the following:

   -the fancy chicken wire on the staircases can be easily cut through, so people will be trying to get in there, alternately there are enough roofs and eaves close enough to jump onto the high line structure, it will be breached after hours.
   - the space itself does not have a lot of cover and you would be pretty well silhouetted while up there, so that was actually a discouragement, because there’s really no place to hide once you are up there.
   - the high line foundation is a private foundation, the city parks department provides security, but is not maintained by the city. these people will do the repair and painting in order to keep donors interested year after year.

9. Andy Says:
   March 6th, 2010 at 3:57 am

   This structure was built likely before your parents were born, the area underneath it is of no concern to the function of it as a park, as most of it is either inside of a building, crossing a street, or otherwise closed off to the public. This will not require anything aside from keeping the stairs & elevator access points clear.

   - A

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