MICA SCOOP

The High Line was built in the 1930s, as part of a massive public-private infrastructure project called the West Side Improvement. It lifted freight traffic 30 feet in the air, removing dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan's largest industrial district. No trains have run on the High Line since 1980. Friends of the High Line , a community-based non-profit group, formed in 1999 when the historic structure was under threat of demolition. Friends of the High Line works in partnership with the City of New York to preserve and maintain the structure as an elevated public park. THE HIGH LINE FORMERLY KNOWN AS "DEATH AVENUE" Before the High Line In 1847, the City of New York authorized the street-level railroad tracks running down Manhattan's West Side as far south as Canal Street to allow freight to run between New York City and Albany. Days of Death Avenue As soon as traffic started running on the new line, accidents began occurring between trains, pedestrians,...