6. The forgotten half of the High Line
The High Line, which was once abandoned, became one of the most popular attractions in Manhattan over the past few years. However, the High Line used to be about 50% longer than it is today, running through the West Village all the way to St. John’s Terminal in Tribeca. Though most of the other half was demolished, some parts still remain. The High Line was the first part of Robert Moses’s West Side Improvement Project, which removed street-level freight trains from 10th Avenue, infamously nicknamed “Death Avenue” at the time. The High Line stretched 2.15 miles from 35th Street and 11th Avenue, though by 1960, St. John’s Terminal was abandoned and part of the High Line was disused.
In 1980, the Jacob K. Javits Center replaced a section of the High Line, with another five blocks of tracks between Gansevoort and Bank Streets, which were demolished 11 years later. A piece of old trackbed still sits in the Westbeth artists residence, formerly the Bell Labs building. There are also still remnants of the forgotten portion of the High Line on other buildings, whose exterior walls clearly show where the tracks were.