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High Line's Last Stretch Includes Plan for Large Piazza

By James Fanelli | February 18, 2016 7:51am
 The city Parks Department plans to start work on the final portion of High Line Park in late 2016. This portion includes a 4,500-square-foot piazza over 10th Avenue, which will be the largest open space on the High  Line. 
Renderings of Last Leg of High Line Park
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HUDSON YARDS — It's the High Line, Italian style.

The city Parks Department wants to turn the last unused portion of the elevated rail into a 4,500-square-foot piazza, according to a plan obtained by DNAinfo New York.

The agency's plan covers a 420-foot-long swath that is referred to as the spur, as it juts out in the opposite direction from the High Line Park at 30th Street.

Parks Department renderings show that the section would be restored into a flora-filled walkway stretching along 30th Street between 11th and 10th avenues.

Part of the section would be a passage running under an office building at the south side of Hudson Yards Development. The passage area would include concession space and balconies overlooking the street. 

The passage would then turn into the Threshold, a tree-lined path that would lead to seating steps and the piazza.

The piazza, which would sit above 10th Avenue at 30th Street, would be the largest open space on the 1.45-mile High Line. It would also have space for temporary art installations.

The city Design Commission approved the Parks Department's plan last week. Construction on the last section of the High Line is expected to start in late 2016. The Parks Department said it had about $31 million in funding that's available to build the final section.

The High Line Park currently snakes along the west side of Manhattan between Gansevoort Street and 34th Street. It has gradually grown in length since it opened to the public in 2009.

The most recent addition to the park was the elevated rail between 30th Street and 34th Street in 2014. That section cost about $34 million.

The park turns west at 30th Street to bypass the Hudson Yards before heading north again at the West Side Highway. It curves east again at 34th Street.

The nonprofit the Friends of the High Line unveiled a different design for the spur in 2013. The earlier design featured a bowl-shaped garden instead of the piazza. The planners eventually opted for the piazza to accommodate the Friends of the High Line's rotating art program and public events.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Parks Department said there was about $21 million in funds to construct the last portion of the High Line. There is actually about $31 million.