The High Line

The viaduct was built in the 1930s to lift freight trains off Tenth Avenue, where street-level trains had killed enough people that the road was called Death Avenue. The last train ran in 1980 and the structure sat abandoned for two decades, growing a self-seeded meadow of grasses and wildflowers. Demolition was scheduled; two neighbours founded Friends of the High Line in 1999 and fought it. The park opened in sections from 2009, and Piet Oudolf's planting deliberately echoes the wild growth that had colonised the tracks, with rails left visible through the beds in places. It has been widely copied. It also accelerated a wave of luxury development along its length, which the founders have said publicly they did not intend.

What you actually see

• A 1930s freight viaduct - built to get trains off street level.
• Oudolf planting echoing the self-seeded meadow - that grew here after 1980.
• Rails left visible - running through the beds in places.
• The development it triggered - luxury towers the whole length.

When to go

April to October; the planting peaks in late summer. Two hours.

Honest expectations

It is narrow and gets very crowded - weekends are slow shuffling. It is one-directional walking with limited exits. Winter strips the planting. Some sections close for events.

Nearby

Chelsea Market is at the southern end; Hudson Yards at the northern.