Tucked along the western part of Midtown Manhattan is a converted above-ground train track that used to transport goods in west Manhattan’s industrial region, called The High Line. The High Line now serves as a public park, and a great place for those looking to walk and run down the avenue without the traffic below. Running parallel to 10th Avenue, the park is accessible by stairs, elevator access, and ramp access.
The park is great for escaping the traffic below for those looking to catch a brisk walk. I walked from my hotel at Herald Square to the 34th street and 10th avenue elevator access. It was a good 30 minute walk to get to this entry point, and I was pretty lucky that it wasn’t overbearingly hot. It was a cloudy day, with the risk of rain, so I’m sure glad my hotel had a complimentary umbrella, just in case. The park comes equipped with some of the original tracks, now being grown over by fresh greenery (it was early Spring when I visited). It was also a great place to get a closer look at the detailing of buildings and the range in architecture styles in midtown.
There was even a lookout terrace space at 23rd street (by now, a good 10 short blocks away from my starting point). I continued to walk down until I landed in a new neighborhood I hadn’t previously explored – Chelsea! I fell in love with it, the way the residential buildings lined up, particularly the brownstones. I also find it fascinating the way businesses and service providers (a pediatrition, a salon, an acting agency, a realtor among many others) were also situated in tiny spaces (sometimes basement access spots) in these buildings. I also loved all the smaller locally owned businesses around every corner. The walk down to the more residential (but evidently still elegant) Chelsea was a nice escape from all the larger chains and corporations found around Times Square. It’s a stark difference to the buildings and floors that they take up back home. I do love how New Yorkers really maximize each living space available.
I made the trek back to Herald Square and realized that somehow, without really realizing it, I had done a 10K walk before 10:00am that morning. I’ve decided I should truly just live in NYC for a summer – imagine all the exercise I’ll get! 🙂
One last photo I snapped after returning to Herald Square was this of the Empire State Building as a magnificent concrete background to these gorgeous daffodils at street level. I <3 NY!
xoxo,
Judianne