NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A 600-foot elevated pathway connecting Manhattan's High Line park to Moynihan Train Hall was unveiled Wednesday.
The High Line–Moynihan Connector is the latest expansion to the popular elevated park that cuts through Chelsea. It opens to the public Thursday after 18 months of construction.
The $50 million pathway allows pedestrians to walk directly between the park and station, avoiding the maze of sidewalks and streets below.
The connector includes a richly planted, 340-foot Woodland Bridge that runs above W. 30th Street from the High Line's terminus at the Spur.New York Governor
There's also a 260-foot, one-block-long Timber Bridge, built from sustainably sourced Alaskan Yellow Cedar, that runs north above Dyer Avenue toward the adjacent Magnolia Court pedestrian plaza.New York Governor
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was on hand for Wednesday's ribbon-cutting, said the connector is proof the city isn't in decline, as some claim.
"We are rising," the governor said. "New York is absolutely rising and we are rising up to the heavens with this project, 20 feet in the air."
"Now people say New Yorkers look down on people," the governor added. "Yes, we do. From this vantage point, we are looking down on the rest of the world."
The $50 million connector took just 18 months to build.New York Governor
As part of the three-way partnership to build the connector, Empire State Development contributed $20 million, Brookfield Properties contributed $20 million, and Friends of the High Line contributed $10 million to the project, which is over property owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.New York Governor
The L-shaped connector offers sweeping views of the West Side and includes over 50 trees, 90 shrubs and more than 5,200 grasses and perennials.
The pathway consists of two distinct sections—a plant-lined bridge over W. 30th Street and a woodland bridge made of timber from British Columbia that runs north above Dyer Avenue towards the Lincoln Tunnel.
Line Alan van Capelle, the executive director of Friends of the High Line, called it another urban garden in a city screaming for green space.
"It's an opportunity to see the city from a different vantage point, which I think when people experience, they're going to be inspired by it," van Capelle said.
