It's the biggest news to hit the High Line since The Standard started serving gigantic beers underneath it: The City Planning Commission has kicked off the city's efforts to acquire the upper third of the High Line?the portion above 30th Street (aka the Tenth Avenue Spur) that rings around the West Side Rail Yards up to the Javits Center. Because the city doesn't own this part of the High Line (yet!), its fate is uncertain. It would be foolish to knock it down, but the coming redevelopment of the rail yards put a big question mark on the whole area. Friends of the High Line, which passed along word of the breakthrough, has been on a campaign to "Save the Spur," and that campaign worked. Maybe! If the city gets control (the land is owned by the state while CSX Transportation owns the actual structure), it means the future of the elevated rail bed at 30th Street and beyond is subject to public review. It could still be demolished, but c'mon, Mayor Bloomberg isn't going to break Diane von Furstenberg's heart like that.
· Major Milestone for the High Line Preservation at the Rail Yards [FHL]
· High Line coverage [Curbed]
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