Plans have been revealed for not one but two extensions to the High Line, in a $60 million proposal described by Governor Andrew Cuomo as “the most ambitious redevelopment that New York City has seen in decades.”
In a statement, Cuomo added: “The beautiful Moynihan Train Hall is open, the renovation of Penn Station and this High Line extension project begin this year. This connection is part of a district-wide redevelopment of the West Side that will jump start the private market in a post-COVID world.”
In the first of the proposed extensions, an L-shaped walkway would connect the High Line from near to Hudson Yards to the new mixed-use Manhattan West development, just across 9th Avenue from the Moynihan Train Hall, which opened at the start of January. Once complete, the walkway would allow pedestrians to connect straight from the parkway to the station concourse without having to cross busy roads.
A second extension to the High Line would be built around the corner past the Javits Convention Center, bringing the pedestrian bridge down to meet Pier 76 – an area now ripe for transformation as the NYPD tow pound departs the site.
According to Gothamist, costs for the expansion project, which are expected to be around $60 million, will be shared between New York state, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Friends of the High Line, and Brookfield Property Group, which owns Manhattan West. No date has been set for the start of construction, and it was not immediately clear what role city agencies would play in the approval process.
Senator Brad Hoylman told the New York Times: “To do it right is always going to be more expensive, but I think at the same time these are once-in-a-generation projects.”
He added that engaging with the community would be critical, as it had been since the park’s first development.
“I think the reason why the High Line was so successful is that it was created at the community level and had involvement by neighborhood stakeholders from day one, so we should most certainly replicate that model with this new connection,” Hoylman told the NYT.