Elevated railway in Manhattan to become park

NEW YORK -- An abandoned elevated railroad that snakes almost hidden through the heart of Manhattan will become a park with $27.5 million in new city funds.

The 1.5 mile-long High Line once carried freight to warehouses on Manhattan's west side. Last used in 1980, it is now overgrown with grass, shrubs and wildflowers between and over the rails and ties.

The line, which runs for 22 blocks from West 34th Street to Gansevoort Street in the city's meatpacking district, offers views of the Hudson River and unique glimpses of the cityscape from its third-story vantage point.

The funding, announced Wednesday by city officials, is largely due to five years of effort by a local group, Friends of the High Line. The group raised money for a design competition and an economic feasibility study and attracted celebrity supporters, including actor Edward Norton and designer Diane vonFurstenberg. The group lobbied city government, winning over Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, a college roommate of the group's co-founder Robert Hammond.

Miller said he didn't know the High Line existed until Hammond took him there. "I fell in love with this space and ... // 54% Remaining