Experiencing the High Line

Rainbow City for the children

The still undeveloped section
of High Line above 30th Street

by Sunah Park

When we arrived at 10th Avenue and 30th Street, the first thing that welcomed us was a variety of shapes: colored balloons in the shape of mushrooms, boxes, columns, and balls in a playground. A lot of children played among them with joy. It was called Rainbow City. While children were playing in the playground, adults drank alcohol like draft beer at the Lot, a huge and open bar right beside the Rainbow City. There were long picnic tables and benches. On one side, there was a bar. Everyone sat on the benches or stood at the bar and enjoyed the atmosphere freely. It was below the High Line, so it was shady and cool. One thing that caught my eye were fluorescent lamps which were suspended from the ceiling like chandeliers. These two places are said to be open only this summer.

The Lot under the High Line on 30th Street.

Going through the Lot, there was a staircase going up to the High Line. This area is the end of section 2 of the High Line, and it just opened this June. Before, I thought it would be as high as a skyscraper due to its name, High Line, and I would be able to look over Manhattan and the Hudson River as if from the top of the Empire State Building. However, once I got up, it was no higher than the 3rd floor of a building and was even surrounded by many tall buildings. I was a little bit disappointed because of the gap between my imagination and reality.

Explore NYC on the High Line!

New York Language Center's new writing class, Explore NYC, is off to a fun start this week. Our first stop was the High Line, where we checked out its new section, just opened last week, and walked the entire length of the elevated park from 30th St. to its southern end over the Meatpacking District.

Now, we'll be talking and writing, then editing and rewriting about what we observed and experienced, and we'll be posting our work here. So stop by now and then and see what we've been up to, where we've been, and what we've written.

All in line and right on track! :-) It's all a teacher can ask for.

The Usual Suspects? Posing in front of The Lot on Tap a temporary
bar underneath the northern end of The High Line.

Strategically planted flora resembling the weeds that grew
on the abandoned High Line

Train tracks along the path--and sometimes on it--to remind you of
the High Line's original purpose.