New York keeps turning its old industrial edges into places to walk. The west side of Manhattan has two good examples just a few blocks apart. Neither one is big, and both are free. We did both on a clear Sunday morning in August.

The Manhattan skyline at sunset
The skyline at sunset, our first evening in the city

Little Island

Little Island opened in 2021 near the old Pier 54. Thomas Heatherwick’s studio designed it. The park stands on 132 concrete columns that spread out at the top like giant tulips. Lawns and paths are planted across them, and the park rises and tips as it goes.

The curved concrete tulip structures of Little Island, framing the walkway back to Manhattan
The walkway from the shore, beneath the concrete tulips

You reach it by walking out over the water, under the edges of the tulips. They look even stranger in person. They are pale and smooth, almost soft-looking.

Close view of the pale flared concrete columns holding up Little Island
Each column flares out into a tulip-shaped planter

From the top, you can see over the lawns to the towers of Chelsea. You can also look down the Hudson to One World Trade Center. It is a small park, but the paths keep changing direction, so it feels bigger.

The grassy slopes of Little Island with Manhattan buildings beyond under a blue sky
Little Island’s lawns, looking back toward Chelsea
Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center across the water
One World Trade Center from the west side

The High Line

A few minutes away is the south end of the High Line, an old elevated freight railway. The last train ran in 1980, and the tracks were left to grow wild. Local residents fought to save them from being torn down. The first section opened as a park in 2009.

It now runs for about a mile and a half, from Gansevoort Street up to 34th Street. It is planted with grasses and flowers like the ones that grew on the old tracks. The best part is the view. You are three floors up, so you walk past fire escapes, rooftops and water towers.

Rooftops and a street in the Meatpacking District seen from above, with the Empire State Building in the distance
The Meatpacking District from above the High Line

Practical Info

  • Where: Little Island is in the Hudson at West 13th Street. The High Line starts at Gansevoort Street, close by.
  • Cost: Both are free.
  • When to go: Early on a weekend morning. The High Line gets very crowded by midday.
  • Allow: An hour for Little Island, and about an hour to walk the High Line end to end.
  • Combine with: The Whitney Museum sits right at the southern end of the High Line.
Keep reading
MoMA

Be the First to Comment