High Line's Midtown Extension Unveiled, With Local Support

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The proposal to extend the High Line into Midtown and connect it to Moynihan Train Hall inched closer to reality Tuesday with a new set of designs, confirming that the state plans to move forward with the project after the resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, its initial pioneer.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's office unveiled the new renderings Tuesday, along with details about the elevated pathway, which would run east and northward from the High Line's current terminus at West 30th Street near Hudson Yards, ending across the street from Moynihan Train Hall.

Clad in wood instead of the High Line's trademark steel, the extension of the wildly popular park will be completed by spring 2023, the state says. Costing $50 million altogether, the state's Empire State Development Corporation will reportedly kick in about $20 million, while private entities like Friends of the High Line and the developer Brookfield Properties will fund the rest.

Some groups, including the West Side's Community Board 4, spoke up against the extension after Cuomo first proposed it in January as part of a suite of projects that would transform Midtown West — including the controversial Empire Station Complex. (That plan is now in jeopardy following Cuomo's departure.)

The board wrote in June that the extension would ignore "crucial safety and quality of life issues for the people below" — namely, dangerous highway entrances, irregular sidewalks and a lack of lighting under the elevated park that could be worsened by the new segment.

But lawmakers and community leaders hailed the extension Tuesday, including CB4 chair Lowell Kern, who said he had been assured architectural lighting would be installed under the 30th Street extension.

"Otherwise, it will be a very dark street," Kern told Patch.

The community board is also in talks with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey about other traffic-flow improvements in the pedestrian-unfriendly area that could accompany the project, Kern said, though he could not share details.

Still, the reception in other corners was more mixed. Journalist Alyssa Katz questioned the precedent being set by a developer constructing a "privately controlled layer of streetscapes," while the transit writer Benjamin Kabak compared the pricey extension's design to a popsicle stick bridge.

Gov. Hochul Unveils Renderings of $50 Million Wood Bridge Connecting the High Line to Moynihan Station pic.twitter.com/vGUnmKa6Dl
— Second Ave. Sagas (@2AvSagas) September 14, 2021

The new "Woodlands Bridge" connector will begin near 10th Avenue, then head north along Dyer Avenue. Around West 31st Street, it will connect to a second "Timber Bridge" that will run north, connecting to the elevated public space at Brookfield's Manhattan West development. That space ends on Ninth Avenue, right across from the Farley Post Office Building that houses Moynihan.

"The High Line's connection to Moynihan Train Hall and other nearby attractions complements our investments in Midtown West, encourages better pedestrian access and provides New Yorkers with a truly one-of-a-kind experience," Hochul said in a statement.

Others praising the project included Robert Hammond, a co-founder of the High Line; and lawmakers including U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

A separate High Line extension that would run west to the newly refurbished Pier 76 was floated by Cuomo in January, but was not mentioned in the latest plans.

The High Line, a converted elevated railway opened its first park segment in 2009 and has since been expanded to a length of 1.45 miles. It drew a whopping 8 million visitors in 2019.

Previous coverage:

• High Line To Extend Into Midtown To Moynihan Hall, Gov Says
• Seat-Free Moynihan Train Hall Ridiculed As Riders Slump On Floor
• PHOTOS: New Pier 76 In Hell's Kitchen Finally Opens To Public