Garden Guy column: The High Line turns 15

Last week I introduced a unique garden, the High Line in New York City (borough of Manhattan). A grass roots effort and initial private funding led to its creation. Its 15th birthday, being celebrated during 2024, showcases the many benefits and growth of the original idea for a garden above the NYC streets.

Running near the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan, the High Line now is 1.45 miles long. The garden, some 30’ above the streets, is central to life in the city.

Having worked in Manhattan several years, I can attest to the fact that month in and month out there are many things happening all the time in the five boroughs. Clearly, in the warmer months there are many more and many, if not most, are held in public places, including gardens. The High Line is one such public garden which is free to the public throughout the year.

Encompassing 16 separate garden areas (zones) the High Line displays many unique gardens, ways to garden, and ways to use gardens. With its original idea sparked by the wild things growing in the abandoned railway bed that were planted by Mother Nature, the making of the gardens focused on local native and other plants that survive essentially with minimal or no intervention. It is a designed wildscape of 150,000 plants that include 500+ species of perennials, grasses, shrubs, and trees that were chosen for their hardiness, sustainability, and ever changing textures and colors in all four seasons.

According to Piet Oudolf, who designed the gardens, “My biggest inspiration is nature. I do not want to copy it, but to recreate the emotion.”

Within the gardens are designed spaces for building community. Music, art, theater, and food venues are provided for the many programs and other initiatives for all ages undertaken year-round often in partnership with neighboring community-based organizations. Spaces are abundant for different sizes of gatherings, including a large-scale plaza for public programming and art, areas for seating, and for gathering. Art on the High Line includes both permanent installations and changing exhibitions. World famous artists come to the High Line to create new, site-specific artworks.

Ongoing initiatives include High Line Teens Empowering Youth which is a paid employment opportunity for local youth focused on skills-building and leadership development through civic engagement, public programs, and strategic partnerships in the park and throughout the city.

Community First Toolkit is a digital planning guide designed to help park organizations address inequities caused by infrastructural racism and to shape public spaces that bring social, environmental, and economic benefits to communities.

High Line Wellness is a series of mobility and wellness programs designed with local community-based organizations that serve aging populations. School Partnerships with public school teachers is a hands-on S.T.E.A.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture, Art & Activism, and Math) project. And High Line Network, comprised of infrastructure reuse projects and the people who help them come to life, transform underutilized infrastructure in the city into new urban landscapes.

These are but a few of the offerings of this garden maintained, operated, and almost 100% funded by Friends of the High Line. It shows interrelationships that are possible anywhere in helping to build communities while providing invaluable joy, knowledge, and services to the public.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Garden Guy column: The High Line in New York City turns fifteen