In 2008 the High Line community activists initiated an advocacy campaign (“Save the Spur”) to save this last remaining section of the original rail structure. They rallied together to preserve the abandoned tracks, with New York City acquiring the section in 2012. The final design for the Spur, led by DS+R, was announced in 2016 and took into account community input. Over 10 years later, the protected, reimagined Spur opens.
The large deck over the intersection will feature public programming, and restrooms have been tucked under a raised planter nearby. The raised planters that lead to the deck have the deepest soil in all of the High Line, allowing for bigger trees to be planted.
"But we ended up with the best solution, typical High Line: tough, simple, and authentic. Leaving the large lofted space of the Coach Passage, you enter the Spur through a lush woodland, which opens into a large clearing with large-scale artwork on the Plinth. This dramatic space is flanked by generous seating and overlooks and immerses you in the massive scale of the surrounding city."
Description of project by High Line
The Spur is public space made by people, for people. We listened to what people wanted when choosing features for the Spur. That means James Corner Field Operations (Project Lead), Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Planting Designer Piet Oudolf—the same design team behind the first three sections of the park—created a space for more space for public programming, restrooms, access points, food, art, and plants.
The flow of the space was designed to create moments of interactions—both between people and with the surroundings.
Coach Passage
With cathedral-like 60 ft. tall ceilings, the Coach Passage crosses through Coach’s global headquarters at 10 Hudson Yards. The passage is named in recognition of the Coach Foundation’s generous gift to the High Line’s capital campaign. Primarily a hardscape, a series of planted balconies stretch out from under the building to provide visitors views of the sky, the surrounding buildings, and the other sections of the High Line over 30th Street. The iconic rails and benches of the High Line transition visitors from the walkway to the focal point of the Spur.
Threshold
Once through the Passage, visitors are greeted by two large “tilted” planters, rising like hills from the deck. These create a dramatic planted threshold into the Spur and provide a lush wall of greenery after coming through the Coach Passage or from the streets of Midtown below.
Piazza
Finally, visitors arrive to an open piazza with panoramic views up and down 10th Avenue and 30th Street. The piazza retains the existing rail tracks that once led to USPS Morgan Processing and Distribution Center, reminding visitors of the history of the structure. Thanks to a series of cascading wooden seating steps on the east and west sides of the Spur, this new section provides critical space for hosting more people at our public programs and art events.
The Spur provides a home for a revamped High Line Shop; an open-air programming space that will expand the scope of our programs and number of attendees we’re able to welcome; new restrooms; and the Plinth, a dedicated site for monumental artworks curated by High Line Art.
The Plinth
The design of the Spur gardens engages with the surrounding urban context with a “less is more” approach. The natural plantings are reminiscent of the original self-sown landscape and the rough allure of the High Line structure and rail tracks.
With a Northeastern woodland palette as inspiration, the Spur plantings comprise 8,500 perennials, 69 trees and shrubs, all new species for the park, and the largest planting beds on the High Line.
Grasses, perennials, and a mix of popular clematis and wisteria vines hang from gardens along the Coach Passage, and flowering beds in the piazza are punctuated by the theatrical changing colors of witch alder shrubs.
The giant tilted planters in the threshold contain stalwarts like hackberry, sweetgum, and black tupelo, alongside exuberant hart’s tongue fern, yellow lady’s slipper, and strawberry bush.
