The gem overhead

A definite perk of working in the non-profit field are the great organizations you get to affiliate yourself with; I had the opportunity yesterday to go on a walking tour of the Highline, led by the leaders of the Friends of the Highline. While the project to turn the Highline into the City's most unique public park is underway, we toured the as-yet-untouched section that crosses the railyards next to the river(which would have been the site of the ill-conceived Jets Stadium since canceled) and then heads along 30th, running parallel to the massive Starret-Lehigh building half a dozen blocks downtown, before the tracks turns south into Chelsea. Having walked beneath the tracks for years and glimpsing sections of it from high-floor gallery windows, having the chance to walk along the track, with the sun setting on the river, in the company of our Horticulturist identifying the amazing variety of grasses and plants growing wild like a prairie in the track bed, was simply an amazing experience. Hearing first hand about the development project, I can say that this should be a model for projects developing urban open spaces, truly conscientous in their efforts to preserve the history of the site, the integrity of this unique natural space, and the attention to the needs of its future audience. Very cool stuff. I have lots of pictures that we were all asked not to publish, understandably, but I'd be happy to share them indvidually, so feel free to drop me a request in the comments.