2. Mixed Beginnings
• Originally, property owners of the Highline area wanted to have it
torn down and develop their own arrangements in its place.
• This was supported by the Giuliani Administration.
• People rallied to “save the highline”, particularly the group, Friends
of the Highline which lobbied extensively for it, eventually
succeeding
• As the idea of a park formed after the highline was saved,
responses were rather apprehensive.
(Chelsea residents, 2005)

3. Lots of Hype
“Ever since it was unveiled in 2005, the design for this park,
conceived for a strip of elevated rail tracks abandoned nearly 30
years ago, has been the favorite cause of New York’s rich and
powerful. Celebrities attended fund-raisers on its deck. City officials
endorsed it. Developers salivated over it, knowing it would raise land
values.”
- Nicolai Ouroussoff, New York Times
The Highline garnered a stupendous amount of media attention in
anticipation of its renovation and eventual opening. People were
anxious. Excited. The city was putting a lot of money into this thing
and it wasn’t certain whether it would all be worth it.

4. Initial Reviews Overwhelmingly Positive!
Right since the opening on June
9th, 2009, reviews done on the
Highline park were very positive.

5. Periodical Reviews
“A little more than a month since its
first stretch opened, the High Line is
a hit, and not just with tourists but
with New Yorkers who are openly But what’s really unexpected about the
relishing a place where they can park is the degree to which it alters your
reflect and relax enough to get a perspective on the city. Guiding you
new perspective on Manhattan.” through a secret landscape of derelict
- Diane Cardwell, New York Times buildings, narrow urban canyons and river
views, it allows you to make entirely new
visual connections between different
“And as we sauntered past the original
parts of Manhattan while maintaining a
tracks, reinstalled precisely where they
remarkably intimate relationship with the
were when they carried trains, it slowly surrounding streets.
dawned on me that this might be a truly - Nicolai Ouroussoff, New York Times
rare phenomenon: a widely anticipated
event actually better than its hype.”
- Karrie Jacobs, Wall St Journal

6. BUT…
It’s not all rainbows and sunshine
Although many city residents and tourists absolutely love
the Highline, the Chelsea area residents had a bittersweet
mix.
TWO MAIN REASONS:
1) Tourist activity
2) Gentrification

7. Those darn tourists!
"West Chelsea is not Times Square. It is not a tourist attraction."

8. “Since opening and despite some rain, crowds
Tourists (con’t) have been so dense that at busy times a line
stretches down the block toward the West Side
Highway.” -Julie Iovine, Wall Street Journal
• Due to its incredible popularity, the Highline generated a
very large amount of traffic due to tourists wanting to
“experience the highline”
• This causes much inconvenience for the people living in the
area around the Highline
• “Please consider how you would feel if 3 million people a
year from around the world trampled your street, your
neighborhood, and your local park, and act accordingly--in
the way that your morals or religion or general human
consideration would dictate.”
– words on the flyer

9. Gentrification! (yay?)
• While the area around the Highline was already
starting to gentrify before it became a park, the
new attraction hyper accelerated the process,
causing it to gentrify like crazy in a short amount
of time.
• This created jobs and crime rate decreased,
however eventually the poorer families and small
businesses began to get kicked out of their home
neighborhoods.

10. Sources
• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/nyregion/22highline.html?ref=
highlinenyc&_r=0
• http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-high-line-new-york?sort_by=date_asc
• http://gothamist.com/2012/05/24/high_line_neighbors_has_some_is
sues.php
• http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2012/08/high-line-op-ed-
response.html
• http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/nyregion/15highline.html
• http://www.thehighline.org/press/articles/062309_wsj/
• http://www.thehighline.org/press/articles/061709_metropolis/
• http://www.thehighline.org/press/articles/061009_nytimes/