The High Line

Specialties

The High Line is a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34^th Street, between 10^th and 12^th Avenues.

High Line visitors can enjoy free programming for adults and families, extensive gardens, a variety of food options from local vendors and much more.

Accessibility

The High Line is wheelchair accessible via elevator at Gansevoort Street, 14^th Street, 16^th Street, 23^rd Street, and 30^th Street; and also at street-​level at 34^th Street.

Wheelchair accessible restrooms are located at Gansevoort Street and 16^th Street.

Design features, such as «peel-​up» picnic tables, the Rail Track Walks, and the Beams play feature, are wheelchair accessible.

Park Rules

The following are not permitted while on the High Line:

Walking in planting beds

Picking flowers or plants

Throwing objects

Sitting on railings or climbing on any part of the High Line

Bicycles

Use of skateboards, skates, or recreational scooters

Amplified sound, except by permit

Solicitation

Commercial activity, except by permit or otherwise authorized

Littering

Obstructing entrances or paths

Drinking alcohol, except in authorized areas

Film or photography requiring equipment or exclusive use of an area, except by permit

Events or gatherings greater than 20 persons, except by permit

Smoking

Dogs

History

Established in 1999.

The High Line was originally built in 1934 as part of a massive infrastructure project called the West Side Improvement. It lifted train traffic 30 feet in the air, removing dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan’s largest industrial district. The freight trains carried mostly food and agricultural goods to the upper stories of factories and warehouses. Train traffic began to decrease in the 1950s due to the rise of interstate trucking and stopped altogether in 1980.

Friends of the High Line was founded in 1999 by two neighborhood residents, Joshua David and Robert Hammond. The non-​profit advocated for the High Line’s preservation when the structure was under threat of demolition. Now in addition to overseeing the maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funding to help complete the High Line’s construction and create an endowment for its future operations.