The Best Tourist Attractions That Locals Love (3/4)

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THE HIGH LINE

Not all art in Chelsea is in the galleries—the neighborhood’s elevated park also features a number of rotating public art installations.


The High Line (also known as the High Line Park) is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33km) New York City linear park built in Manhattan on an elevated section of a disused New York Central Railroad spur called West Side Line. Inspired by the 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) Promenade plantée (tree-lined walkway), a similar project in Paris completed in 1993, the High Line has been redesigned as an aerial greenway and rails-to-rails park. The recently opened spur extends above 30th Street to Tenth Avenue. Formerly, the West Side Line went as far south as a railroad terminal to Spring Street just north of Canal Street; however, most of the lower section was demolished in 1960, with another small portion of the lower section being demolished in 1991.

Gansenvoort

At the Gansenvoort Street end, which runs north-south, the stub end over Gansevoort Street is named the Tiffany and Co. Foundation Overlook, dedicated in July 2012; the foundation was a major backer of the park. Then, it passes under The Standard hotel, and through a passage at 14th Street. At 14th Street, the High Line is split into two sides of different elevations; the Diller-Von Furstenberg Water Feature, opened in 2010, is featured on the lower side, and a sundeck on the upper side.

American Native Planting

Most of the planting, which includes 210 species, is of rugged meadow plants, including clump-forming grasses, liatris, and coneflowers, with scattered stands of sumac and smokebush, but not limited to American natives. At the Gansevoort Street end, a grove of mixed species of birch already provides some dappled shade by late afternoon.
Ipê timber for the built-in benches has come from a managed forest certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, to ensure sustainable use and the conservation of biological diversity, water resources, and fragile ecosystems.

Chelsea Market

Then, the High Line passes under the Chelsea Market, a food hall, at 15th Street. A spur connecting the viaduct to the National Biscuit Company building splits off at 16th Street; this spur is closed to the public. The Tenth Avenue Square, an amphitheater located on the viaduct, is at 17th Street, where the High Line cross over Tenth Avenue from southeast to northwest. At 23rd Street, there is the 23rd Street Lawn, a lawn where visitors can rest. Then, between 25th and 26th Streets, a ramp takes visitors above the viaduct, with a scenic overlook facing east at 26th Street. The Philip A. and Lisa Maria Falcone Flyover, as it is called, is named after two major donors to the park.

Creative Culture

The High Line Park also has cultural attractions. As part of a long-term plan for the park to host temporary installations and performances of various kinds. Creative Time, Friends of the High Line, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation commissioned The River That Flows Both Ways by Spencer Finch as the inaugural art installation.
The work is integrated into the window bays of the former Nabisco Factory loading dock, as a series of 700 purple and grey colored glass panes. Each color is exactly calibrated to match the center pixel of 700 digital pictures, one taken every minute, of the Hudson River, therefore presenting an extended portrait of the river that gives the work its name.

The City and the Hudson River

The Park's attractions include naturalized planting that are inspired by the landscape that grew on the disused tracks, and views of the city and the Hudson River. The trail is made of pebble-dash concrete walkways that swells and constricts, swings from side to side, and divides into concrete tines that meld the hardscape with the planting embedded in railroad gravel mulch. Stretches of track and ties recall the High Line's former use. Portions of track are adaptively re-used for rolling lounges positioned for river views.

THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN

Every city park offers its own brand of verdant escapism, but this lush expanse goes beyond landscaped flora. In addition to housing swaths of vegetation, including the 50-acre forest featuring some of the oldest trees in the city, the garden cultivates a rotating roster of shows that nod to the world’s most cherished green spaces, such as the regal grounds of Spain’s Alhambra palace and Monet’s alfresco sanctuary at Giverny.
During the year, visit the garden’s Holiday Train Show, which features miniature NYC landmarks crafted from plant materials, and the Orchid Show, which offers a stunning display of blooms and exotic plants.

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, STEPHEN A. SCHWARZMAN BUILDING

The New York Public Library system consists of 89 individual branches, but it’s this austere Beaux Arts building in Bryant Park—home to 75 miles of shelves housing a massive humanities and social sciences archive—that most readily comes to mind.


The library’s free tours stop at the beautifully renovated Rose Main Reading Room and the Bill Blass Public Catalog Room. The program of special exhibitions rivals those of the city’s finest museums.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER

You’ll find plenty of iconic New York sites in this multi-block complex: The ground level is home to the Rock's famed ice-skating rink, the bronze Atlas statue and the Today show plaza.


Higher up, Top of the Rock rivals the Empire State Building in panoramic city views, and you can inspect the Art Deco murals that appear in several buildings. Don’t miss the triptych above the outdoor entrance to 5 Rockefeller Center or the rinkside Prometheus statue; both purportedly contain secret Freemason symbols.

In New York, you can get an Explorer Pass to access attractions, tours, and activities at a reduced price.