Introducing the High Line
New Preface to the Third Edition | xiii
Prologue: The Story of the High Line, from Elevated Railroad to Linear Park | xxii
Foreword by Rick Darke | xxxiv
Joel Sternfeld | xxxix
Designing the High Line | xli
Piet Oudolf and the Plants of the High Line | xlvi
Section One: Gansevoort–14th Street
The Slow Stairs, 5 • Friends of the High Line, 6 • Gansevoort Woodland, 9 • Mannahatta
Then and Now, 11 • The Manhattan Refrigerating Company, 12 • Washington Grasslands,
13 • Wildlife on the High Line, 14 • Whitney Museum , 15 • Gansevoort Pumping Station, 18
• Pier 52 and Day’s End, 19 • Thirteenth Avenue and Gansevoort Peninsula, 20 • Pier 54 and
Little Island, 24 • The Meatpacking District, 27 • 14th Street Passage, 29 • P. F. Collier &
Son, 30 • The Louche Hotels, 31
Section Two: 14th–16th Streets
The Bog, 37 • Piers and Pile Fields, 38 • Pier 57, 39 • The Sundeck, 40 • Hoboken Terminal,
40 • Chelsea Market, 41 • The Northern and Southern Spurs, 44 • Merchants Refrigerating
Company Warehouse, 46 • Piet Oudolf’s Favorites, 46 • The Spring Cutback, 48 • Other
High Lines, 50
Section Three: 16th–20th Streets
Death Avenue Amphitheater, 59 • The West Side Cowboy, 59 • Tenth Avenue Square, 62 •
Chelsea Grasslands, 63 • New Architecture along the High Line, Part One, 64 • Tenement
Houses, 68 • High Line Art, 70 • Astilbe, Allium ‘Mt. Everest’, Staghorn Sumac, 70 • The
Chelsea Piers, 71 • Grasses, 73 • Publishing and Printing, 75 • Breaking the Grid, 75 •
Clement Clarke Moore—a.k.a. Seal—Park , 76 • Guardian Angel Church, 77 • Holly on the
High Line, 78
Section Four: 20th–23rd Streets
West Chelsea, 81 • The Chelsea Thicket, 82 • General Theological Seminary, 82 • The Art Deco
Prison, 83 • The Life Savers Building, 84 • The Warehouse Law, 85 • Center of Amusements, 86
• The Spears Building and Seating Steps, 87 • The Prairie Lawn, 88 • The Chelsea Hotel, 90 •
The Empire Diner, 91 • The Gallery and Art Scene, 92 • London Terrace Apartments, 94 • The
Original People’s Park, 95
Section Five: 23rd–26th Streets
The Slow Park, 99 • New Architecture along the High Line, Part Two, 99 • The Flyover, 102 •
Tree of Heaven: From Beloved to Bemoaned, 103 • From Global Grocer to World School, 104
• H. Wolff Book Manufacturing Co., 105 • Magnolias, 106 • The Modern Luxury Cruise, 107 •
The Great Spires, 108 • Water Towers, 110 • Heavy Metal in West Chelsea, 111 • Otis Elevator
Company, 112 • Pharmacy in the Sky, 114 • The Lighterage Era, 114
Section Six: 26th–30th Streets
The Wildflower Field, 121 • The High Line Zeitgeist, 121 • Peter Obletz, 123 • New York’s
Lumberyard, 124 • The Radial Bench, 124 • “Make the Place Sittable”, 125 • 30th Street Cut-
Out, 126 • The Central Stores Complex, 126 • The Morgan General Mail Facility and Abraham
Lincoln, 128
Section Seven: The Interim Walkway
The Crossroads, 135 • The Eastern Rail Yards and the Rail Track Walk, 135 • Keep It Wild: The
Interim Walkway, 137 • The Divine Wild Carrot, 139 • Hell’s Kitchen, 140 • The Javits Center
Green Roof, 141 • 34th Street Entry Plaza and CSX Transportation Gate, 142
Section Eight: 30th–34th Streets
The Shed, 147 • Hudson Yards, 147 • Tenth Avenue Spur, 148 • Westyard Distribution Center,
150 • The Moynihan Connector, 151 • The Time Line, 154
Acknowledgments | 157
Notes | 161
Bibliography | 175
Index | 179
