Tenth Avenue elevated

Why do these elevated train tracks lead straight into the side of a building?

They used to go through the building...

...because they are part of the West Side Elevated Freight Railroad (known to Lower West Siders as The High Line), an attempt by NYC in 1934 to alleviate the congestion on West Street by taking all rail and road traffic off of it.

Prior to the 1930s, West Street featured a steam railroad down the center of West Street. Before the 1930s, locomotives were pulled by horse, because steam railroads were prohibited south of 30th street! Even after steam railroads were allowed, the congestion forced the railroads to hire mounted cowboys carrying a red flag to clear traffic before the train could proceed.

In 1934, NYC built two viaducts, the West Side Elevated Freight Railroad to carry train traffic, and the Miller Elevated Highway to carry automobiles. The Miller was more commonly known as The West Side Highway. The elevated freight railroad was designed to pass through, or just beside, the buildings whose businesses it served, such as National Biscuit Company (still standing on 10th Avenue and 15th St), Armour Meat Packers, and the Manhattan Refrigerating Company (presently divided into apartments).

The freight railroad never caught on very well. It was first sabotaged by the Depression, and then trucking became the primary means of shipping in NYC. The section of the railroad south of Bank Street was torn down in the1960s, and sporadic service continued on the line north of Bank Street until 1980. The trestle stayed in postion until the mid-1990s when the section south of Horatio Street was torn down. The sections of the extant elevated that went through buildings had some of those openings bricked up, leading to the strange situation shown above.

As for the Miller Highway, the city deferred maintenance on it for decades until, in December 1973, a truck partially fell through a hole in the road. The trestle was torn down. Plans for a combined park/expressway to be called Westway were on the drawing boards, but were defeated by environmentalists. The existing road has been repaired by the city in recent months and sports new pavements, a bike path and new streetlighting.

View of the old freight elevated on Tenth Avenue and 16th Street.

The sign advertises the Chase Millrose Games, the famed annual track and filed event that takes place every February at Madison Square Garden.

This series of extraordinary photos was taken from atop the High Line by J. Sternfeld of Friends of the High Line. As of November 2001, the High Line was in greater danger of demolition than ever before; the organization seeks to prevent that seeming inevitability, and create a public pathway out of the old railbed. You can find more of these photos at the link, as well as a means of contributing to the cause.

Looking north on Tenth Avenue, we can see clearly the West Side Elevated's route through local industrial buildings. The one on the northeast corner has been reclaimed as Chelsea Market; NYC's news channel, NY1, has recently relocated there.

Above, the West Side Elevated arches over Tenth Avenue; at right, it ascends from street level at 12th Avenue and 33rd Street. In the background is the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

In these October 2003 views, the 'High Line' is seen from aloft, literally, a loft on West 25th Street.

The tracks are still there amidst the refuse and weeds.

Looking south

(LEFT) Loft-ists inspect the High Line; (right) a palimpsest of sorts as 1980s graffiti taggers Cost and Revs overprinted a Towers Warehouse ad.

This view of a cutoff section of the West Side Elevated on Washington Street shows one of the examples of it passing through a building, rather than around it.

Early 1930s view showing freight train rumbling along the Elevated Freight Railroad, in the same location as the above photo.

Photo courtesy Alex La Bianca

This view at 14th Street near 10th Ave. shows the trestle entering another building.

Present view of West Street and West 10th. From the mid-30s through about 1980, this view was interrupted by the Miller Highway and numerous businesses lining the docks. Much of the dock work has disappeared, along with the elevated highway, providing a clear vista to New Jersey. The city has recently reconstructed West Street and plans to build a waterfront park along the route.

Note the sailing ship in the Hudson River!

In 1999, the city and state agreed to name this road for the late Joe DiMaggio.

Sources:

"Greenwich Village and How It Got That Way", Terry Miller, Crown, 1990.
Sadly out of print.

Questions? Corrections? E-mail me at erpietri@earthlink.net.

Thanks for visiting the site!


		In these October 2003 views, the 'High Line' is seen from aloft, literally, a loft on West 25th Street.

		The tracks are still there amidst the refuse and weeds.
Looking south

	(LEFT) Loft-ists inspect the High Line; (right) a palimpsest of sorts as 1980s graffiti taggers Cost and Revs overprinted a Towers Warehouse ad.