In one of his last acts as mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani signed an order permitting the
High Line that beloved elevated railroad ruin which snaked down the west side of Manhattan to
be torn down. Everyone who had managed to climb up onto the High Line loved it: the wildflowers
growing through disused tracks the birds that followed the path north in spring and south
again in fall-that rural feeling magically flowing through the city like an unbidden river. Who
didn't love the High Line? Those who owned the land beneath it and longed to erect high-rise
buildings on the site if only the High Line wasn't blocking their way. And so when Giuliani
signed that order the Friends of the High Line the small community organization led by Robert
Hammond and Joshua David sprang into legal action seeking an injunction. For over a year
Joel Sternfeld had already been photographing this hidden jewel in every season so New Yorkers
could visually climb up and see it too. In October 2001 while the rubble of the World Trade
Center was still smoldering Gerhard Steidl accepted Sternfeld's urgent request to make a book
and flew to New York: together they designed Walking the High Line and just seven weeks later
it was delivered a vision for the wildly successful park that today hosts over two million
visitors a year. Now in a new edition with nine additional photos a larger format and an
updated timeline this is the book that made walking the High Line possible.
