Construction is finished on the High Line – Moynihan Connector, an L-shaped 600-foot-long extension of the 1.5-mile High Line linking the popular elevated green park with the five-building Manhattan West complex in Midtown West. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and James Corner Field Operations and developed in a public-private partnership between Empire State Development (ESD), Friends of the High Line, and Brookfield Properties, the $50 million project is composed of two ADA-accessible bridges that provide a safer and easier means of access to Moynihan Train Hall and Penn Station. Turner Construction Company was the general contractor for the walkway, which runs along West 30th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues and turns to the north at Dyer Avenue to connect to the elevated southwestern corner of the Manhattan West plaza above West 31st Street.
The High Line – Moynihan Connector opened to the public in late June and has already become a popular spot for locals and visitors to take photographs and videos. Starting from Manhattan West’s 2.6-acre Magnolia Court plaza, pedestrians begin walking south through the 260-foot-long Timber Bridge, which stands 45 feet over Dyer Avenue. This leg of the project was designed with an open-air Warren truss system using sustainably sourced Alaskan Yellow Cedar that was processed into glued laminated timber, known as Glulam. Other materials include Corten steel decking for the walkway, bronze handrails, and thin wired metal fencing.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Wooden seating is found at the end of the Timber Bridge, which then makes a 90-degree turn toward the 340-foot-long tree-lined Woodland Bridge running east to west. This portion of the project is built with exposed steel columns and angled brackets that hold up all the landscaping, soil, irrigation systems, and vegetation, and directly connects to the High Line Spur over the intersection of Tenth Avenue and West 30th Street. From here, pedestrians reach the entrance to the Hudson Yards plaza next to The Shed, the northern U-shaped section of the High Line further west, and traverse all the way down to the southern endpoint in Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The project also encompassed street-level improvements including new pedestrian signals, lighting, repaved roads, crosswalks, refuge islands, and large planters.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
“The High Line is an outstanding example of effective public-private partnership, and this latest addition will enhance this attraction for New Yorkers and visitors alike,” Governor Hochul said. “Thanks to state resources and the combined efforts of Friends of the High Line and Brookfield, the High Line – Moynihan Connector will add 600 feet of new open space to transform one of New York City’s busiest neighborhoods. This project is a testament to the power of smart, sustainable design, enhancing one of the most beloved parts of the city, and I encourage New Yorkers and visitors to take advantage of this beautiful new space.”
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I like this but is it this kind of a waste of space? I know it used to probably be a subway line or was an old line around there but I believe they could of used the structures to make more rail lines around the city due to the influx of tourists coming to and from Grand Central station. It just does not make sense. I know about congestion pricing but why do some people believe that the city is sinking? I know that the earthquake that happened earlier in the year made people concerned about the island stability, but come on, this is not like California ´ s San Andreas Fault. I know that there is the San Ramapo near Pennsylvania and Virginia which stretches all the way to 125th, but it´s creating more mountains and landscape, not splitting states from our continent. Anyway, even though I feel weird about this project, at least they are using the space for something.
Holy gibberish, Batman!
My mind is hurting trying to connect the dots in this incongruent statement. This bridge has nothing to do with earthquakes, Virginia, Pennsylvania and congestion pricing for CARS
I believe he’s trying to say “the bird flys at midnight, and it was a candlestick in the library”! 🤔🤣
Hmmm, let me ponder this…
Am I missing something here? What’s the correlation between Virginian earthquakes and building bridges in New York City??? 🤷♂️
I’m envy to see people enjoy themself among shrubbery and a very long pathway, without worrying that they have to encounter vehicles. And about beautiful trusses I saw it’s similar to Golden Gate Bridge, I mean to its direction from whatever side which so walkable: Thanks to Michael Young.
Yellow Cedar is beautiful..
I enjoyed the smell of the wood. Amazing.
Adds some nice color and textural diversity to this dismal area of concrete ramps to the Lincoln tunnel
Walked and photograhed it a Saturday ago. Well worth it and a great addition to the neighborhood!
How long before some idiot tries to ignite this thing with a barbecue lighter?
Lovely photos and so is the bridge! Glad that area got a seriously overdue face lift
City needs more functional oddities like this one. With office workers not returning, increasing tourism will help with financials.
Yes, “Functional Oddities”..well said !
Go see it now before the unloved A holes vandalize the beautiful cedar trusses.
Thanks for the reminder. I’ll be handing out free Krink markers for people to tag with.
You’re disgusting for saying that Mayor Kenny 😡 how would you like your home being vandalized by low-life juveniles doing the same to your place?
Will add to my “extensive” must see list for next visit to NYC! 🤗
Horrible: another sterile structure, attractive to fellow robotic “designer-architects”–and repulsive to the voiceless public. A connector to the beautifully vegetated/flowered Highline looks like the sterile road to hell? Id I could, I would banish all these “designer-architects” to a small, strile Island where they can love the sterility of the environment, replacing them with some common folks who loved nature, beauty and human psychology
I’m having a hard time how you can find fault in this. Do you just think it should be more ornamental or something? Are you one of these people who’s grew up in a victorian house or something and never got around to realizing that it was in fact ghastly?
NFA did good taste scare you as a child ? Because you seem to have none.
Go suck your hat.
Wit is also not one of your strong points so stick to boorish
Let me get this straight, Victorian house: ghastly. Ugly, design free industrial trestle: good architecture? I’m guessing your idea of greatness is Robert Moses’ inhuman brutalist housing projects. This was once the most beautiful city, architecturally speaking, on earth, with “horrors” like the old Pennsylvania Station and the old Waldorf Astoria hotel on 34th St. It’s people in power with tastes like yours that have turned it into a soulless box loving shambles it is today. Congratulations on a footbridge with all the style of a 10-year old playing with popsicle sticks and glue.
Dan, is that supposed to be a harsh critique?
Is there no beauty in geometry? Mathematics? Simplicity? Wood, for crying out loud? Bonkers.
Well curated, sterile, homogenized……welcome to New York City. Blank buildings and structures attract blank people.
An edgelord is in our presence.
Sounds like you hate yourself. Or at the very least are going through something. Go find a friend buddy.
the new connector has been open for a bit, was this an official grand opening or something??? anyway its very cool and useful to get to mw courtyard and penn, and well worth going out of your way to explore, at least once. the wood bridge is warm and the landscaping very nice.
The wood is pretty for the moment, but when it darkens and people start carving their names into it, may not be.
Why would either of those things necessarily be a negative?
pretty is not, but is very useful. I do wonder though. Why doesn’t it connect to the 34th street terminal for the Flushing line, which is only a couple of blocks away and connects to Grand Central?
It is a great first step in creating an entire district where foot traffic and vehicular traffic are conducted on two totally separate levels. This is one of the few areas in Manhattan where such a transformation is possible. I wish it could somehow be incorporated into zoning and planning for the Manhattan West and waterfront area.