Today marked the opening of the long-awaited second section of New York’s popular High Line. The unique park, built on abandoned railroad tracks, is equal parts nature, urban redevelopment, and art. The first section of the park opened in 2009, and has already become a hit with New Yorkers and tourists alike, drawing more than 2 million visitors per year.

The new section ends at 30th Street, adding 10 blocks to the first segment, which runs from Gansevoort to 20th Street. New additions to the mile-long park include several art installations. One such public art display is Julianna Swartz’s “Digital Empathy,” installed throughout the High Line in elevators, public restrooms, and drinking fountains. As park visitors take a sip from the 18th street water fountain, they will be serenaded by computer -generated voices advertising the quality of the water, reminding you not to lick the fountain, and promoting kissing as a form of oral hygiene in what t-magazine dubs as “equal parts infomercial, public service announcement and motivational mantra.”

Another is “Rainbow City,” a colorful candyland-esque installation by Miami art collective FriendWithYou and AOL.

Admission to the High Line is free. Evening hours will run to 11 p.m. all summer. The High Line opens at 7 a.m. year-round.

Friends of the High Line, the organization that runs the park, hopes that one day a third section of the High Line can be open to the pubic if they are able to acquire the rest of the railroad from CSX, who still owns it.

[Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

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