Entrepreneur Elmer Burnham, whose faded at for beef wine can still be seen on the side of the building, also occupied space here from 1897-1929. The Biscuit Works Building, which still faintly announces its old occupation in faded letters on its exterior, apparently occupied two flors of the building from 1890-1892 the building itself went up in 1887, according to painted sign expert Walter Grutchfield. Plants, flowers and vegetation shares the walkway with ballast and rail installations that hark back to when this was a working railroad.īefore accessing the High Line at Gansevoort and Washington Streets, I took note of a pair of highlights on Gansevoort itself: the New England Biscuit Works Building and the R&L Restaurant, which, in its most popular incarnation between 19, was operated as a French bistro and diner by French immigrant Florent Morellet. The politics aside, the High Line is a wondrous NYC achievement, designed by the Diller, Scofido + Renfro architecural firm with innovative landscaping by James Corner that partly preserves the old railroad legacy of the viaduct, but also retains its more latterday incarnation of an abandoned structure recaptured by nature. The difference with the High Line, is of course, money and celebrity, as the West Side of Manhattan has seen multi-million dollar high rise condominium complexes rising in tandem with the High Line’s development (Try that in Rego Park, Queens or Port Richmond, Staten Island!) New York has been remarkably resistant to rails to trails projects, with a number of opportunities around town such as the old Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Branch and Staten Island Rapid Transit North Shore Branch. The revitalization (or gentrification) of the Meatpacking District, which found fashion models and 24-hour party people neighboring with meat wholesalers of the Far West Side, was another impetus to the project. The former freight railroad, inactive since 1980, went through a number of revitalization plans, including one that would have placed light rail on it, before it was redesigned as a high-concept public park with money raised in great part by donations to the friends of the High Line organization. (It provides context, and got me out on a gorgoeous day.) I’ve already chronicled the opening of the lower section, between Gansevoort Street and West 20th, in June 2009 - but couldn’t resist walking the entire route this time. The city does hope to open that remaining section during the coming decade. New York City opened up a second section of its only major rail to trails project, the former West Side Freight Railroad (popularly called the High Line) in June 2011 from West 20th to West 30th Street, leaving only a short section from West 30th to West 34th undeveloped.