Highline Park, Manhattan

I recently drove down to Long Island, New York with my parents for my aunt and uncle's 55th Wedding Anniversary. My sister and nephews and aunt and uncle from France also went down.

I took advantage of one of my free days to go into the city. Though I've been a number of times before there were a couple of things I wanted to see. One was the High Line park, the other the 9/11 Memorial. Unfortunately I didn't get down to the Ground Zero site in time so I missed that one.

I took the train in from Huntington Station on Long Island to Penn Station in Manhattan. Angela and Jacques joined me on the ride in. Off-peak adult fare is $21.50 round-trip.

When we arrived in the city we headed to Times Square. My cousin David said we could pick up a tourist map there. While I didn't find a tourist information place I was able to procure a map off a bus tour operator. After that Angela and Jacques went off to find the High Line and I hung around to take some photos.

After I finished shooting around Times Square I headed over to 10th Avenue. The north access point of the High Line park is in between 10th and 11th Avenues at West 30th Street. It ends in the south at Gansevoort Street which is a few streets south of West 14th Street. It took me a little while to find.

I have to say the park is quite nice. There are a lot of plants up there along with benches for sitting and relaxing on. At the south end there are vendors selling food and other things. It's pretty fancy. I spent 2 hours walking it and taking photos.

Here is some info I pulled from their website. http://www.thehighline.org/
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FAQs:

What is the High Line?

The High Line is a public park built on a 1.45-mile-long elevated rail structure running from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street on Manhattan's West Side.

What was it used for?

The High Line was a freight rail line, in operation from 1934 to 1980. It carried meat to the meatpacking district, agricultural goods to the factories and warehouses of the industrial West Side, and mail to the Post Office.

Who owns the High Line?

The High Line is owned by the City of New York and is under the jurisdiction of the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. It was donated to the City by CSX Transportation, Inc.

The land beneath the High Line is owned in parcels by New York State, New York City, and more than 20 private property owners.
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The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the nonprofit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. In addition to overseeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the preservation and transformation of the High Line at the Rail Yards, the third and final section of the historic structure, which runs between West 30th and West 34th Streets.

The High Line is located on Manhattan's West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. The first section of the High Line opened on June 9, 2009. It runs from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street. The second section, which runs between West 20th and West 30th Streets, opened June 8, 2011.
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Hours:
The High Line is operating on its fall schedule, with the park open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Access between 10th and 11th Avenues:
Gansevoort Street
14th Street (elevator access)
West 16th Street (elevator access)
West 18th Street
West 20th Street
23rd Street (elevator access)
West 26th Street
West 28th Street
West 30th Street (elevator access)

9/11 - Ten Years Later

Where were you on September 11th, 2001 at 8:46 a.m.? That's when Flight 11, the first plane, hit the north tower (World Trade Center 1). I was at my parents' place, either asleep or having barely woken up. I was staying there temporarily having sold my house in Scarborough while waiting for my new condo to be completed.

My mother was listening to the news on the radio at the time. I think details were sketchy at first. No one really knew what was going on. If it was some kind of accident or something far worse. As we all know now it was something much worse.

After confirming it was an attack and turning on the television my mom came to get me to tell me what was going on. I went into the living room and sat on the sofa and watched the coverage.

The news reporters still weren't clear on what was going on. The was panic because no one knew how many targets the terrorists had in mind. The twin towers had been hit and so had the Pentagon, but how many more. Everyone was on high alert.

Most of the coverage was now focused on New York City. The two World Trade Center buildings were afire. They kept on burning and burning and burning. I watched it live as it was happening. I'm not sure what was going through my mind. Probably I was wondering how they would put the fires out.

To my horror, at 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed. I did not expect that at all. Not at all. I can't recall my exact reaction right now. But, I believe something that terrible would have made me cry. To imagine all the lives lost in that single instant would have been overwhelming.

Nearly half an hour later at 10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed. After seeing the first building fall I suppose it was inevitable. Still it didn't lessen the shock.

If I was able to I would have liked to have stayed home to watch the rest of the news. But, it was getting late and I had to go to work. I would have to get updates throughout the day from whoever was following it there.

In the following days I was relieved to hear that since it was so early in the day the buildings weren't completely filled. The loss of life, though quite high, was less than it could have been.

I was saddened to discover that one of my high school friends, Ralph Gerhardt, was killed in the attacks though. My sister read it in the Saturday Star (newspaper). She saw that he graduated from my high school the same year as me and asked me if I knew him. That's how I found out.

While I wasn't extremely close to Ralph, we did go out cycling a few times. I recall he used to start off really quickly on his 10-speed after the traffic lights changed. Me, I started in a higher gear and slowly caught up to him.

Ralph was a really nice guy. He had a big, bright smile. His family held a memorial service for him not long after. Along with other family and friends a group of us from his high school class attended. It was nice to seem them again after about 15 years. Though I know all of us wished it could have been under other circumstances.

In 2005 I was down in New York City. I took a photo of Ralph's name on the memorial at that time. I was down again in 2008. The memorial was gone. There was a lot of construction going on.

The photo above is of the World Trade Center site now (in 2011, ten years later). Progress has been made. Structures are going up. The new memorial is almost complete. Once again the names of the lost will be there for all to see. I will go down again. And I will take pictures. We won't forget what happened that fateful day back in 2001.