Being a revitalized piece of New York City’s past, the High Line was first open to trains in 1934 through 1980 where the last train before it closed. It ran from 34th Street to St John’s Park Terminal, at Spring Street. It was designed to go through the center of blocks, rather than over the avenue, carrying goods to and from Manhattan’s largest industrial district. Today after it was opened to the public section by section from 2009 to 2014, the High Line has converted from an out-of-use railroad trestle to a public landscape entailed not only years of planning, community input, and work by some of the city’s most inventive designers, but also more than two years of construction per section with a planting design inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the out-of-use elevated rail tracks during the 25 years after trains stopped running. The species of perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees were chosen for their hardiness, sustainability, and textural and color variation, with a focus on native species. Many of the species that originally grew on the High Line’s rail bed are incorporated into the park’s landscape.

About the High Line Park (n.d) Retrieved  October 30, 2016, from

http://www.thehighline.org/about