The document provides a history of the High Line, an elevated railway on the west side of Manhattan. It describes how the original High Line tracks were built and caused accidents until being raised above street level between 1934-1960. The High Line fell into disuse by 1980 as trucking replaced rail transport. After being abandoned and overtaken by nature, it was renovated between 2006-2019 into an elevated urban park and public open space. It has now become a major tourist attraction and sparked development in the Meatpacking District.

1. The History of the High
Line
The first rail tracks on the lower west side of Manhattan
were laid along 10th and 11th Avenues south from
Penn Station.
This was so dangerous that cowboys were hired to ride
ahead of trains to warn pedestrians.
NEW YORK MINUTE

2. THE HIGH LINE
Despite the warnings from the “West Side Cowboys”
there were so many accidents that 10th became known
as Death Avenue as trucks and workers from the docks
constantly crossed the tracks.

3. THE HIGH LINE
As accidents mounted and traffic increased, pressure
increased for a solution to the dangerous problem.
North of Penn Station, the rail line along the west side
of Manhattan was moved underground and is still used
today.
South, negotiations resulted in the West Side
Improvement Project to raise the rail line above street
level.
This became known as the High Line.
It ran over the streets and through warehouses and
buildings it served.
The High Line opened in 1934.

4. THE HIGH LINE
The Original High Line Rail Line ran from the train yards
at 35th Street to St. John’s Park Terminal at Spring
Street, near where the Holland Tunnel currently enters
Manhattan.
It was 13 miles long.
It eliminated 105 street level rail crossings; required the
destruction of 640 buildings and ran directly through
factories and warehouses for loading and unloading.
Part of the project was the construction of an adjacent
elevated highway, known as the West Side Highway.

5. THE HIGH LINE

6. THE HIGH LINE

7. THE HIGH LINE

8. THE HIGH LINE
One key building was the sprawling Nabisco Factory on
Ninth Avenue, between 15th and 16th. There was also
a building on 10th.
Trains would deliver flour and other goods directly to
the factory, as the High Line ran through it.
The Oreo cookie was invented there in 1912.

9. THE HIGH LINE
In 1960 the southernmost portion was demolished and
the High Line ended at Gansevoort Street.

10. THE HIGH LINE
As trucking overtook rail for transportation of goods, use
of the High Line dropped. The last run was a train of
turkeys to the meat-packing district in 1980.

11. THE HIGH LINE
New York Minute takes place in July 1977, when the
High Line was still partially in operation.
The protagonist, William Kane, eats every morning in
Vic’s Diner, caddy corner from the High Line’s stub on
the southeast corner of Gansevoort and Washington.
This plays a significant role in the book.

12. THE HIGH LINE
After 1980, the High Line was abandoned and mostly
forgotten about. Nature began to take over.

13. THE HIGH LINE
While debate over the fate of the elevated rail line went
on, trees grew and some people found the urban
wilderness.

14. THE HIGH LINE
A proposal was put forth that instead of demolishing the
rail line, it should be repurposed into an urban trail for
pedestrian use. Construction began in 2006.

15. THE HIGH LINE
As the lower West Side of Manhattan, the former
Meatpacking District, became more fashionable, the
High Line became one of the largest tourist attractions
in New York City.

16. THE HIGH LINE
The Whitney Museum of American Art opened a new
building next to the stub of the High Line on
Gansevoort.

17. THE HIGH LINE
The abandoned Nabisco Factory became the most
expensive property in Manhattan and is now Chelsea
Market.
You can see the High Line going through the re-
purposed factory, bought by Google in 2018 for $2.4
billion.
The climactic scene of New York Minute occurs in the

18. THE HIGH LINE

19. THE HIGH LINE
But in 1977, Vic’s Diner, where Will Kane stops every
morning for breakfast, is caddy-corner from the stub of
the High Line, on the corner of Gansevoort and
Washington.
The lower West Side and the Meatpacking District, is
derelict, a sign of a city that appears ready to go down
the drain.

20. New York City. 1970s.
Jack Reacher meets the Equalizer
by NY Times Bestselling Author,
West Point graduate
and former Green Beret
One of the top five new series of the year.
http://bobmayer.com/fiction/

21. Print
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22. www.bobmayer.com
About the author: Bob Mayer up in the Bronx, New York
City; graduated West Point, served in the Infantry
including leading a recon platoon in the First Cav
Division, and then Special Forces (Green Berets),
commanding an A-Team and other assignments. After
leaving active duty he studied martial arts in the Orient
and was brought back for numerous ADSW (Active Duty
Special Work) tours in Special Operations.
He’s lived on an island off the east coast, an island off
the west coast, in the Rocky Mountains, the hill country of
Texas, the hills of New England, the Appalachians and
other places.
They haven’t caught up to him yet.
He is the New York Times bestselling author of over 80
books.