West Village, Seventh Avenue South Between Commerce and Barrow Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Caliente Cab Co. seems to be overwhelmingly disdained for its mediochre overpriced food, but it's so cute and the location is so good, and there're so many people in the world who haven't yet been there, that it stays in business. How long has it stayed in business? Since 1984. I was here soon after it opened. Everyone has to go once. Your turn.

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West Village, Varick Street Between Downing and Carmine Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

I like it when I can get one short block with its low buildings all in one clump. I feel like I can just grab it all up in one piece.

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West Village, Varick Street Between Houston and Downing Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Yesterday I went downtown to meet Myra to play ping pong. She's been playing at the Fat Cat and talking it up so I took her up on it. On the way I picked up a few shots. I got off the subway at Houston and walked up Seventh Avenue South. Or so I thought.

I just now discovered that this is Varick Street and not Seventh Avenue South. Seventh Avenue South starts one block north of Houston at Clarkson Street, a little bitty 4-block long street, or, if you prefer, Carmine Street (on the other side), a two block long street. Not Houston Street, which goes all the way across Manhattan. It's not right.

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Inwood, 215th Street Between Broadway and Tenth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

When we last saw this building, it was vacant and looked like this. I don't have a photograph to commemorate its state when it gained a new tenant, the Ming Moon Buffet, and as a result (I assume), the wall art was painted over in a brutal and sloppy way. But now they have come to their senses, and we have this new ambitious and vibrant addition to the street.

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The High Line, Tenth Avenue at 20th Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 ……… click to enlarge

We've come to the end of this walk. I'm shooting through the gate that closes off the next section, which goes to 30th Street. It's supposed to be ready next year.

You know Bill Cunningham who does the "On the Street" section in the New York Times? You know, where he notices something in fashion and shoots many examples of it – like hats or everybody's wearing black and white? Well, he went to the High Line and took a lot of shots and has this wonderful commentary. You need to watch it. It'll make you happy.

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The High Line, Washington Street/Tenth Avenue Between Gansevoort and 20th Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge


I think this is my favorite photograph from up here.

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The High Line, Washington Street/Tenth Avenue Between Gansevoort and 20th Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………….. click to enlarge

One of the pleasures of being on the High Line is getting a different view of things. This is the Gehry designed office building for IAC, about which you will hear more when I get there.



Mary Sargent © 2009 ……….. click to enlarge

This is 18th Street.




Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

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The High Line, Washington Street/Tenth Avenue Between Gansevoort and 20th Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

We're on the outside looking into a sort of amphitheater in which people can sit and gaze out at the . . . traffic. Pretty funny. Don't worry about the little girl who seems about to tumble over the edge. A thick pane of glass is holding her in.

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The High Line, Tenth Avenue Between 15th and 16th Streets

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Tonight my internet connection is back and so I can once again post. Do you notice how calm I am? Yes, I am calm even though I lost not only the internet, but my phone. The DSL folks sent out a DSL technician today who restored my vital connections and told me it all happened because of the rain. Meanwhile, my TV (cable) is doing fine. I'm just sayin . . .



Mary Sargent © 2009 ………….. click to enlarge


What we have here is a piece of art by Spencer Finch, commissioned for the High Line. It is a conceptual piece. This is conceptual artist Sol LeWitt's definition of conceptual art:

In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.

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LeWitt's pieces are executed by people other than himself because they have only to follow his directions to give form to his concept.

Finch had the idea of taking a photograph of the surface of the Hudson River every minute for 700 consecutive minutes, then extracting one pixel from each photo, reproducing them on color film and then laminating the film on 700 panes of glass. If this interests you, Art In America has a pretty good critical piece on it.

Here is a portion of the statement from Creative Time, one of the sponsors of the piece:

Inspired by the light and the water of the Hudson River, The River that Flows Both Ways will transform an existing series of windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a period of 700 minutes on a single day. The installation will be placed in a semi-enclosed former loading dock where the High Line runs through the Chelsea Market building, between 15th and 16th Streets, viewable from the street and on the High Line. The work links the movement of the river, viewable from the site, with the historic movement of the railway and the atmospheric conditions of its location on Manhattan’s West Side. The piece, with its varied levels of color, translucency, and reflectivity, addresses the impossible search for the color of water.

The title of this work comes from the original Native American word for the Hudson River, Muhheakantuck, which means “the river that flows both ways.” This flow in two directions is analogous to the way both water and glass work optically, as both windows and mirrors, allowing a view into depth as well as a reflection of the surrounding environment.

There you have it.

The High Line, Washington Street/Tenth Avenue Between Gansevoort and 20th Street

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Mary Sargent © 2009 ……... click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

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I realize that I've been talking about the High Line as though everyone knows what it is, but it's entirely possible you don't know even if you live in New York. So let's start at the beginning.

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In the beginning, say 1851, a railroad ran on the streets of New York, creating such peril for street traffic that 10th Avenue came to be nicknamed Death Avenue. And so it came to be that in 1929 (before or after the crash?) the City and State of New York and the New York Central Railroad agreed to the West Side Improvement Project, which included the High Line and added 32 acres to Riverside Park.

The High Line ran from 34th Street to Spring Street and was designed to go down the center of blocks rather than over the avenue to keep things tidy. Imagine. It ran through factories and warehouses and so could pick up and deliver freight without setting foot in the street. And we think we're so smart.

But, alas, the feds built the interstates in the 50's and trucking became competitive with freight trains, causing a drop in rail traffic. In 1980 the last train ran on the High Line carrying three cars of frozen turkeys. What an ignominious end.

The High Line was abandoned and as the months and years went by, nature took over. Wild grasses grew, and flowers. It was becoming a meadow. A few people noticed. They probably snuck up there. They thought it was way cool. Wow, this would make an awesome park, they probably said to themselves.

Oh, I forgot to say that in the 60's the southern part was demolished, whether all the way to Gansevoort or not, I don't know.

So then some people wanted it torn down, including Mayor Guiliani, and others fought to keep it. Friends of the High Line was formed.

Friends of the High Line won. A miracle.

The photos above show how the landscaping keeps elements of the High Line's abandonment period.

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