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I had never heard about this industrial re-use project until a relative gave me a heads up and gave me a slide show (image above credit CEB)

The rail road right of way is on a viaduct - built decades ago - above street level and in numerous places went through the commercial warehouses and industrial buildings which the rail line served.  

Read about the High Line on their web site.  The Design Team for the wonderful walkway included an irrigation designer.  The following paragraph is a quick history of the high line from the organization's web site.

"The High Line was built in the 1930s, as part of a massive public-private infrastructure project called the West Side Improvement. It lifted freight traffic 30 feet in the air, removing dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan's largest industrial district. No trains have run on the High Line since 1980. Friends of the High Line, a community-based non-profit group, formed in 1999 when the historic structure was under threat of demolition. Friends of the High Line works in partnership with the City of New York to preserve and maintain the structure as an elevated public park." 

The promenade is a private space, closed at night. All development funding was private.   As you can imagine, real estate values along the walkway are going up - it is the very hippest place to live near.   New buildings are being built along the trail.  I will get some of those new building images up here soon.   

Take my car and shove it!