The High Line || 1 November 2015
I woke up early on Thursday morning to board a bus to New York City for the Audio Engineering Society convention. I arrived when there wasn’t much going on at the convention center, so I took the opportunity to explore the Big Apple for a few hours. New York City baffles me a bit– it’s the subject of plenty a pop tune, praising it for its size and infinite possibilities. Students everywhere make a pilgrimage to see Wicked or Phantom of the Opera and snag a knockoff designer bag from Chinatown. Most people on the east coast have driven through at least once on a family vacation, erroneously thinking that sightseeing at stoplights is a sufficient, or satisfying, NYC experience.
I can probably count the number of times I’ve been to New York on one hand, maybe two, and I can’t say that I will ever feel the need to go back, at least for pleasure. The cost of living, never-ending cacophony of sound in the streets, and overly caffeinated lifestyle prove a bit too much for my old soul.
As you might guess, parks are one of my favorite things about any city. When I realized that Central Park was a bit too far of a walk for me, I looked around for attractions in the Chelsea area and saw the High Line just a few blocks away. I had never been, so I darted towards it.
For those who don’t know, the High Line was once a railroad built above Chelsea. It was long abandoned, until interest grew in the vegetation that had grown there for so long, undisturbed. This abandoned section was recently converted into a public park, featuring concrete walkways and more deliberate placement of plants.
Walking along the repurposed train track made me question my attraction to cities in the first place– if I seek out the natural areas among the hustle and bustle of city life, why live in a city at all? Maybe it’s the option to “turn off’ nature when I want, or maybe it’s that I prefer a manicured outdoor experience. I don’t quite know what it is, but it’s jarring to think that the city life I dreamed of as a teenager is not quite alluring as I thought it once was.
