Opening Up the Neighborhood: The High Line Festival

Even in überhip, überpricey New York City, the lower west side of Manhattan is known for excessive over-the-top swankiness. The downtown neighborhoods of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District—once a wasteland of auto body shops, wholesale butchers, and wee-hour transvestite prostitutes—have become a playground for the rich and idle over the past few years. Now, the few surviving meat plants are dwarfed by velvet-rope nightclubs where celebs like Jay Z, Paris Hilton, and Derek Jeter party; restaurants run by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mario Batali; and the fashion boutiques of Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.

So far, the charms of these neighborhoods have been largely limited to those who can afford to drop three or four C-notes on a pair of jeans or dinner for two (and that’s without drinks). But some new plans in the works may change all that. The High Line, a 1.5-mile-long elevated railway that runs through the area—built in the 1930s but unused and overgrown since the ‘80s—is about to get reinvented as an aerial public park, with gardens, walking paths, and possibly even a twenty-two-block-long swimming pool where ordinary, un-liposuctioned folks could take refuge from the city heat.

Of course, undertaking this enormous project (which will be done in stages, with the first stage due to be completed in 2008) won’t be cheap; although no specific costs have been quoted, they’ll likely run to the hundreds of millions of dollars. The drumming up of funds for it has thus far mostly been handled by an organization called Friends of the High Line (FHL)—which has some helpfully high-profile spokespeople like star hotelier Andre Balazs, designers Diane Furstenberg and Todd Oldham, and actors Edward Norton and Kevin Bacon. 

Add to that list the ageless and perpetually hip rock star, David Bowie. The former Ziggy Stardust has joined the cause by putting together a concert series during the month of May, where ticket proceeds are partially donated toward the High Line project. The High Line Festival, as it’s called, kicked off with a March 9th performance by indie heavyweights Arcade Fire. The rest of the lineup, made up of “David’s favorite artists” (according to festival promoters) is eclectic, with alternative bands like Secret Machines and Polyphonic Spree, performance artists like Laurie Anderson and John Cameron Mitchell (of Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame), and a video installation of underwater films.

Though the festival is being held at various venues around the city (including Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden), a nice touch is that some performances are happening at a brand-new Meatpacking District venue, The HighLine Ballroom.