Last night I had the joy of hearing Johnny Linville, Manager of Horticulture for the Friends of the High Line, at Bolyston Hall in Boston, presented by COG Design. The dynamic Mr. Linville spoke to a full house of designers, landscape architects, and students eager to hear his presentation and he did not disappoint. With slides and a great sense of humor, Linville shared their successes, and some few failures, reminding us that the ‘park in the sky’ is a living experiment.

The High Line is an elevated freight rail line transformed into a public park on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York and maintained by Friends of the High Line. This event is timely for Gloucester as Chris Muskopf, the lead architect of the Gloucester Harbor Walk, and I have been speaking about the possibility of developing a Friends of Gloucester Harbor Walk. Friends of the High Line is a non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to ensure the High Line is maintained as an exceptional public space for all visitors to enjoy. I am hoping that perhaps we can create interest in developing a Friends of Gloucester Harbor Walk to help with the educational component of the butterfly garden and to help with maintenance.

Available on the High Line webstore, and at the top of my Christmas wish list, is the book High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s park in the Sky, written by Friends of the High Line Co-Founders Joshua David and Robert Hammond. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. 100% of the proceeds from this book go toward maintenance and operation of the High Line.

From the High Line website: The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. In addition to overseeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the preservation and transformation of the High Line at the Rail Yards, the third and final section of the historic structure, which runs between West 30th and West 34th Streets.

Special thanks to Lucia Droby, COGDesigns Executive Director for organizing the event and for assistance with my ticket!