The High Line
So Robert Hammond's lobbying has paid off. Hammond, an occasional dotcommer and artist, is co-founder of Friends of the High Line, a group lobbying for the elevated railway on the west side to be turned into an urban park. Friends of the High Line, which holds The Bloomberg administration this week adopted the scheme, backing the High Line's designation as a trail, which would stop its demolition. Gifford Miller, the City Council speaker, is a major supporter. Which is only fair, given the enthusiasm with which Hammond's been fundraising for the ambitious young Democrat. The objective: a New York version of the promenade plantee along the old line to Bastille in Paris. It's warms the cockles to see, applied to urban improvement, a bit of old-fashioned political arm-twisting.
On West Side, Rail Plan Is Up and Walking [New York Times]
Friends of the High Line