More of The High Line to reopen to
parkgoers in Manhattan this Saturday
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Starting this Saturday, New
Yorkers will again be able
to explore more of The High
Line in Chelsea.
The linear public park on the
former freight rail line will again
welcome visitors north of Gansevoort
Street, up to 30th Street,
beginning at noon on Sept. 5.
Visitors will also be able to access
The Spur, located at the corner of
10th Avenue and 30th Street. The
full park is open from noon to 8
p.m. daily.
High Line Park partially reopened
to visitors in July after
months of closure due to the COVID
19 pandemic. Various crowd
fl ow and gathering restrictions,
however, will remain in effect
even as more of the park reopens
to the public.
All visitors may only enter the
park from Gansevoort and 23rd
Streets, but they must travel
northbound on the High Line
paths. The staircases and elevators
located at 14th, 16th, 17th,
20th, 26th, 28th and 30th Streets
will be exit only (except for
People walk on the elevated High Line Park in Manhattan on the first day of the park’s reopening
following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New
York, U.S., July 16, 2020.
individuals with mobility needs).
The ramp leading from the
High Line to Hudson Yards will
also be exit only; no one may enter
the High Line from Hudson
Yards.
Additionally, High Line
continues to limit the number
of people accessing the park to
ensure proper social distancing.
Visitors are urged to make
a timed-entry reservation prior
to their visit at thehighline.org/
welcome; a limited number of
PHOTO BY REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR
walk-up passes are available
each day at the 23rd Street and
Gansevoort Street entry points.
Visitors are required to wear
masks to prevent the possible
spread of COVID-19. Food and
beverage vendors at The High
Line remain closed. Bathrooms
remain open, and are rigorously
and regularly cleaned.
Along with reopening another
section of the park to visitors,
the High Line also announced
the extension of its exhibition of
Simone Leigh’s “Brick House”
sculpture through next spring.
The fi rst commission for the High
Line Plinth, Brick House can be
viewed on The Spur.
“Many people have told us that
the High Line has been a respite in
these challenging times, and with
that in mind, I’m proud that we’re
able to safely extend access to the
park through 30th Street,” said
Robert Hammond, co-founder
and director of the High Line.
“I’m especially happy that New
Yorkers and visitors will have even
more time to enjoy Simone Leigh’s
incredible work Brick House up
close on the Plinth. Leigh’s monumental
sculpture has been a beacon
of resilience and beauty for
the millions of people who have
passed through our neighborhood
in the past year.”
For additional information,
visit thehighline.org.
Switch work wrapped on 4/5/6 lines
BY MARK HALLUM
Switch repairs on the 4/5/6 trains
near Union Square station wrapped
in time for the Monday morning commute
on Aug. 31.
“We are changing the way we do construction
work to reduce – and prevent
– disruption for customers,” said Janno
Lieber, president of MTA Construction
and Development. “Priority One is to fi x
things before they break and require emergency
repairs. Then, we have to make sure
projects get completed on time – especially
when the work requires outages or service
changes. This project was a big success by
both standards.”
On Aug. 10, the MTA reduced service
on the three East Side train lines to replace
switches and complete other repair work
which mean riders had to take a different
route when during overnight and weekend
hours to get anywhere in Manhattan
south of 42 St – Grand Central. The usual
schedule commence at 5 a.m., according
to the MTA.
Also on Monday, the MTA restored
front-door boarding on all buses; at the
start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they
switched to rear-door boarding in April
after the danger to bus drivers became
apparent, cutting off the fi rst three rows
of buses and ceasing to collect fares. Up to
131 transit workers died from COVID-19.
Now the agency says it has fi nished retrofi
tting 5,800 buses with barriers between
the drivers and the rest of the public and
will begin accepting fares.
“As we prepare for Monday, we want
customers and employees to know we are
doing everything we can to keep them
safe – from disinfecting our buses to
mandating masks to installing protective
barriers for our operators,” Sarah Feinberg,
Interim President of New York City
Transit, said. “We honor and respect our
heroic frontline employees for everything
they continue to do for our city. We are
resuming fare collection at a time when
we are facing the worst fi nancial crisis
in MTA history and we need the federal
government to step up and deliver $12
billion in urgently needed funding now.”
And the fi nancial crisis Feinberg mentions
is no joke.
With a pending defi cit of up $16 billion
by 2023, they MTA is asking for $12 billion
from the federal government just to support
operations through the end of 2021 as fare
and toll revenue continues to make a slow
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM comeback.
Union Square station on Aug. 10.
Schneps Media September 3, 2020 3
/thehighline.org
/thehighline.org
