ON THE HIGH LINE -- BOOK REVIEW -- PART 9

EXPLORING AMERICA'S

MOST ORIGINAL URBAN PARK

Chapter Seven: 30th -- 34th Streets

Annik La Farge's $29.95 gem explains High Line preservationists' goal to Keep It Wild:

"When the High Line opened in June 2990, its signature statement, printed on signs nestled in the plantings, was 'Keep It Wild.'"

"This has been the guiding mandate of the entire preservation project."

"The wildness of the High Line -- the self-seeded plants that grew, over time, into a meadow in the sky -- was the spirit of the place that photographer Joel Sternfeld captured and Friends of the High Line dedicated itself to preserving."

One segment of the old elevated rail line remains wild: the portion that runs at west 30th Street, with a short job east toward midtown."

"When the second half of the park opened in spring 2011 everyone could behold, for the first time, what the early visitors to the former elevated railroad had seen."

"The grasses still grow wild, and the unkempt quality of the railbed beckons with the whisper of history."

"We can really imagine trains passing by on those rusty old rails."

www.thamesandhudsonusa.com

ON THE HIGH LINE -- BOOK REVIEW -- PART 8

EXPLORING AMERICA'S

MOST ORIGINAL URBAN PARK

Chapter Six 26th -- 30th Streets

The author has this to say about Hell's Kitchen, which is touched by the High Line:

"The WPA Guide To New York City pronounced Hell's Kitchen 'one of the most dangerous areas on the American continent.'"

"The neighborhood took its name from the Hell's Kitchen Gang, an 1860s organization of gangsters and hoodlums whose specialty was raids on the New York Central Railroad, which operated many of the trains that ran at street level along Tenth Avenue."

"To combat the mayhem and robberies the railroad organized a special police force in 1910 and , after much violence that included clubbing and shooting, it finally broke the back of the gangs."

"The name remained, but today the neighborhood, which begins at 34th Street, is quickly gentrifying."

High Line book review continues tomorrow, October 26 

ON THE HIGH LINE -- BOOK REVIEW -- PART 7

EXPLORING AMERICA'S

MOST ORIGINAL URBAN PARK

Chapter Five: 23rd -- 26th Streets

Water Towers seen from the High Line are explained:

"The newsman Charles Kuralt was a big admirer of the water towers that grace so many of New York's rooftops."

"The city requires that every building above a certain height -- around six stories -- must have them, both to regulate water pressure throughout the building and to help firefighters by providing a reliable source of water."

"To this day Manhattan's water tanks, which hold between 5,000 and 10,000 gallons each, are hand-crafted from wood and iron by one of two companies that have been making them here for more than a century."

"Wallace Rosenwach was one of those coopers; his grandfather started the business in 1896."

"While walking around the city one day with Kuralt, Wallace looked up and said 'that's our skyline.'"

"'We helped create it.'"

High Line book review continues tomorrow, October 25