Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This episode of the New Yorkers Podcast is brought to you by newyork100.org recognizing excellence across New York City's five boroughs. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the New Yorkers, a podcast by New York City Cop. I'm your host, Kelly Kopp, published photographer, New York City tour business owner, real estate content creator, podcaster, and above all else, a New Yorker.
Ladies and gentlemen, the next Brooklyn bound train in Mount Biden. Stand clear of the closing doors.
Shovel to grand the Central Foreign.
With me today, I have Richard Hayden. He is the senior Director of Horticulture at the High Line and overall nature lover and plant nerd.
But above all else, he is a New Yorker. Hey, Richard, welcome to the show. How are you today?
[00:01:19] Speaker B: I'm great, Kelly. I'm so excited to be here and talking to you today.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: I'm so excited to have you here today too.
I love the High Line. I'm there all the time. I do tours on the High Line. A lot of people that are listening have done tours with me on the High Line and they themselves have gone to the High Line in general.
Today's guest, Richard, has one of the most extraordinary jobs in New York City, everyone. He brings wild beauty to one of the most urban landscapes in the world. Richard Hayden is the Senior Director of Horticulture at the High Line, the stunning elevated park that has redefined what public green space can look and feel like. From managing seasonal plantings to navigating the challenges of climate concrete, Richard's work is where nature meets design and where plants tell a story right in the heart of Manhattan. I'm super excited to have you here, Richard, today. Tell us about you, Kelly.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: It's great to be here with you today. And that was a great introduction of the High Line. It really is an amazing little sliver of green through the west side of Manhattan. So I've been at the High Line for a little over three years. I did all my horticulture work actually in Los Angeles on the West Coast.
But when I saw this job opportunity pop up, and I think the High Line is probably the most important public garden of the 21st century, it changed the way we think about landscapes. The idea that gardens can be for all four seasons and obviously the fact that it's so incredibly famous gave us an opportunity to really dive into incredible gardens and also to represent how important those gardens are to the public.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: Wow. What did you do before you came to New York City? What led you to the High Line?
[00:02:59] Speaker B: Right. Good question. So, well, I lived in New York originally Out of college, I moved to New York City.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: What neighborhood?
[00:03:07] Speaker B: I've been. I've been obsessed with New York since I was like, little. I was drawing pictures of the New York skyline in like sixth grade.
And when I first moved here, I lived in Chelsea. I lived on 21st between 8th and 9th. And I never knew the Highland was there. You know what? We just, you know, you didn't notice it. It was just this piece of. You would, you know, you'd drive underneath it or whatever, but you didn't know it was there.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: And what year was this, Richard?
[00:03:30] Speaker B: This was in the early 80s.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: Yeah. So it's just like this broken down, in a sense, dilapidated space.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: Well, at that point, you didn't really go much west of 10th Avenue.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Oh, that's true.
[00:03:41] Speaker B: You know, and then, and then I moved to Chicago for a little while. I studied improv at Second City.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Really?
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Which makes it really easy for me to do these podcasts because I can just chat.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: I had no idea. Yeah, I was trying to dig up some stuff on here.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: I was, I was actually in. I was. I studied theater and film in college, so I had this background. And then I moved back to New York in the late 80s and I worked in film production, doing commercial films. I always say, if you can produce a television commercial, that's like a half a million dollar commercial on location in New York City.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: I can do anything.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:14] Speaker B: You know what I mean?
And so then I moved to Los Angeles and got into horticulture and became a landscape designer for like 20 years and kind of got tired of having clients and got into public horticulture. At the Natural History Museum, the one in Los Angeles, they started this wonderful habitat garden, and I was the head gardener there and really got into the idea of representing what nature can bring to the public, especially the urban public that doesn't really have access to nature.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: And then when I saw this, I just jumped at the opportunity to come back to New York, the city I love.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: And so you, you started right away as senior horticulturist. They say it, right?
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Yeah, Horticulturist.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: Senior. Yeah. I started actually as the director and then they, they were so happy with my work. A year and a half in, they made me the senior.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: So you have this, in my opinion, this amazing green thumb, you know, that most of us don't have, because here you are.
That's quite an accomplished here in New York City at one of the best, I think, best and most well known parks in the world.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: Right. It's you know, there's a. The New York Times actually recently, 20, about six weeks ago, the style section came out with an article called the 25 Most Important Gardens to see in the World.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: And the High Line was one of those.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: And it's inspired other, other parks around the world, I assume.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: Yeah, we actually have a program called the Highline Network that works with, I think, 47 different Highline, sorry, infrastructure reuse projects around North America. So we're working to kind of help bring what we've learned about fundraising and community engagement and horticulture to other projects.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: Wow. And so what inspires you in the morning? We get up. What are you thinking? What do you, what's, you know, what are you thinking? Do you have these projects, you know, all on the line.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: Okay. So truthfully, what inspires me every morning is Central Park.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: I start my day every morning in Central Park. I have a dog, I live on, you know, the west side just off the park. And I'm in the park for my little nature walk every morning for like a half an hour. And then I, you know, get up and go to work. And I often will commute down the High Line on my way to the office. Our office is down next to the Whitney Museum at the south end.
And I meet with all my staff as we're walking down and checking in. And, and so I start, I start in nature. I start in the garden. I always, I always said I'm. My favorite thing to do is like hike and to be, you know, be out in nature.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: And I always said that I wanted to live somewhere where I could walk out my front door with my dog and he could have an off leash dog walk and I could check out the nature. I just didn't realize I was going to move to New York City and live in the middle of the biggest city in the country in order to achieve that.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Central park is a, is a amazing inspiration.
I completely understand that. It's one of the best parks in the world too, aside from the High Line. I'd say the Highline and Central park are the two top parks. I'm in New York City.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: You know, I walk most of the time. Yeah, I love them both.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: It's amazing.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: But what first sparked your love of plants and landscapes?
[00:07:28] Speaker B: You know, I was always a gardener. As a kid, I had, when I was little, we, I lived in a house that my great, great grandfather had built and my grandmother lived on one side and my grand aunt lived on the other in this little Town in the middle of Michigan. And so everybody was into gardening, so I would spend a lot of time with them out in the garden. We had a cherry tree picking cherries. And so I had always had this experience, you know, kind of gardening, and it was just always there. And when I moved to LA to become a famous film producer, the universe had other ideas.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Right.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: And it was actually during the Rodney King riots, I got sent home from work and, you know, there was ash falling down and the whole city was on fire. And I was like, if the they're going to burn the city down, I'm going to plant a garden.
And it was that action that got me going. And then somebody said, well, I could use a little help. And so I helped out a friend, and then they recommended me. And the next thing you know, I went back to school at UCLA and really just got into the passion of growing plants.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: Wow, that's fascinating. It's interesting that you said the universe had different plans for you, because you're one of the only people I've ever met that has said that, because I kind of feel that way here, that New York City did that for me too, you know, so it's interesting to. We have a plan, but sometimes the universe jumps in and says, no, yeah, this is what I want you to do.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: Right. And it's interesting. I'll be honest with you. A lot of my staff and a lot of people in horticulture come to it as a second career.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Right, Right.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: Like, I have.
One of my staff members is a reformed lawyer, and some of them have worked in finance and. And high school teachers, and they just have such a love of gardening that they've gone back to school and. And now we're just trying to really. With the High Line, we have interns that we're working with some high school folks trying to inspire the next generation to see if we can't get people really, you know, in a pipeline for creating these. Because these kind of gardens take a lot of maintenance.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: They do.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: They take a lot of skill and kind of stewarding the evolution of what they're going to be.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: I'm glad you brought that up. So what is the maintenance of the High Line?
Is there a structure?
How's this work?
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good question. So the interesting thing, when they designed the High Line, our garden designer is this Dutch nurseryman and designer named Pete Oudolf. And Pete kind of is the poster child for the naturalistic garden world. He's really designed these gardens that they don't Imitate nature, but they evoke nature. And he likes to say that I, he's creating an emotional experience for people as they walk through the High Line. And so there's this framework of the High Line of these ecological habitats. Like you're in a woodland or you're in a grassland, or we even have a wetland bed, or you're in, you're in the woodland edge, the shrub thicket. And so there's it. Because the High Line is about a mile and a half long, you go through these different garden styles that give you these different emotional experiences. In the grassland, it's wide open, the grasses are shorter, they're swaying in the breeze. And then you go into the woodland and you feel cooler and more encompassed. And so as the people that take care of that, we have to kind of manage the evolution. Right? The trees are growing, the grasses. Some perennials only live a certain amount of years.
And I always say, if you want to be a successful plant on the High Line, you have to have a lot of will to grow. And we have to manage that because we have plants that want to kind of, you know, will take over. So we do a lot of editing. We call it curating.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Right?
[00:11:04] Speaker B: We, we curate this plant. We, we take out a little bit of this, we add a little bit of that. We trim the trees every couple of years.
And the biggest compliment that we hear is, oh, you're so lucky. It's so natural. It must just grow this way.
And in reality, I have a staff of 11 full time horticulturists taking care of an individual zone. We have three seasonal gardeners that help us. And so it really, it takes a lot of effort.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: Richard, how did the High Line become the High Line?
You know, what was it before it was the High Line?
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Well, exactly. And I like to say, I like to start this conversation by saying, everybody loves a redemption story.
[00:11:44] Speaker A: Right? Right.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: And so the High Line was this amazing piece of American infrastructure that was built, started in 1934.
So in the middle of the Depression, they decided it was so important to get the trains up off of 10th Avenue because they'd been running for 50 years. The trains have been running up the middle of 10th Avenue.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: And over 400 people had been killed in train accidents.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: I did hear about that.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: Yeah. They used to call 10th Avenue Death Avenue.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: And didn't they, didn't they also bring in what was called, like, the west side?
[00:12:15] Speaker B: The west side Cowboys? Yeah. They would have a, they would have a man on a horse going in front of the trains trying to. To get people out of the way.
And so the community finally got organized enough and they built in the middle of the Depression, this amazing piece of two and a half mile long infrastructure to lift two freight trains passing side by side, 30ft in the air. And so it was amazing. It brought all of the produce, the meat, you know, the National Biscuit Company was making Oreo cookies. All of that came in by train.
And so it was a really amazing thing that ran until 1981 was the last train that ran on the High Line because the highway system and trucks became much more efficient. And so from 1981 to 1999, the High Line set fallow.
And you know, nature abhors a vacuum.
So, you know, the rail, the railroad ties disintegrated and created a little bit of soil and the birds came along and deposited a few seeds and things blew in. And the next thing you know, there was this magic garden that popped up and it was this ribbon of green, this incredible garden that kind of not many people were able to see. Unless you lived along the High Line or you snuck up there.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And it wasn't a very desirable area at that time.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: No.
[00:13:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: And so there were some community meetings. Almost a mile of it was torn down during the Giuliani administration.
And at the end of the Giuliani administration, they were going out to the community to see what might happen. And our two founders, Josh David and Robert Hammond, met and said, well, let's see if we can save it and turn it into a park.
And that's how the Friends of the High Line was born in 1999.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: Wow. So it's. How old is the High Line?
[00:14:06] Speaker B: 26 years. 26 years since friends of the High Line. And then it opened 16 years ago in 2009.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
When I first moved here is when you, you started the Hudson Yards part of the High Line?
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: So I remember it was built from where's the start of 14 against?
[00:14:30] Speaker B: So like, yeah, three or four blocks.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: Below 14 and then up to obviously 34th area, you know, which is now Hudson Yards. But it stopped there and it was just that old trail, you know, train yard.
Is that correct?
[00:14:44] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:14:44] Speaker A: And I remember I stayed at the, at the, what's it called?
I stayed at the, the apartment building right there. It was the only one the, the E.O. i forget what it's called.
But anyway, there was the only apartment building standing there. And I watched the.
Add the Hudson Yards on right there. And it was amazing to watch. It being built into what it is today.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: It's interesting to see the pictures of that section of the high line at 30th street when it was first installed.
And then seven years later, you know, eight or 10:30 plus story buildings are just popping up everywhere.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: It's the own building, I don't know if you know which one.
It was the only, only high rise there. And then I saw the other ones come up and it's, it's truly incredible what they've done, what you guys have done with it.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Well, and the design team originally, this is the cool thing, is that they were very focused on making the, the idea that the rail had always been there part of the design of the park.
So they took all of the rails and numbered them, took them away.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: And then, you know, the soil was contaminated because of the. There was asbestos in the brake pads, there was lead paint. So that was a tremendous remediation project.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: I would have never thought about this.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: They came in and poured a new shallow, 18 inch deep, kind of almost like a pool, put in some drains, put the soil back in, put the rails back in, and then created the gardens around that and had these aspects of the linear aspect kind of worked into the way the benches rise up and some of those design elements to make it really kind of recall the rail tracks that had always been there.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: And I love it because it's, it's almost subtle too, because I'll point the railways out sometimes and people didn't. Haven't seen them, you know, I'm like. And they're, they're fascinated. And then I tell them about the history from what I'm, what my little bit of history I know of the High Line. And yeah, people love it. You know, it's such a creative and.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Smart idea and it has really, truly inspired infrastructure reuse projects, you know, around the world.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: I agree, I agree.
And also the part that joins now the west, what's that called? That area where the past the pigeon, where they put that bridge.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: Oh, the Moynihan Connector.
[00:17:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I like that. That's nice.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: Wasn't that an amazing idea? So, yeah, the High line ended at 10th Avenue and 30th Street.
And they had this idea to create a brand new construction walkway to connect over to Manhattan west so that you could go literally across the street at ninth Avenue from the Moynihan train hall.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: So smart.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: And you could roll a roller bag all the way down to the West Village without ever going down the street level.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: I, I walk from Moynihan Train hall, especially the food hall right there. Yeah, I'll eat there sometimes. And I walk right out across. What is that? Ninth Avenue to the connector, past the Pigeon.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: You know, I love it.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: It's my commute many days.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: I mean, I'll get off the A train right there too, at Moynihan Train hall, and then walk through it and up through the connector. And it's so easy. Yeah, I think that's. It's brilliant.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a great way to start your day. You cut through the Moynihan, which is this amazing. Another infrastructure reused used to be the post beautiful postal building, and now it's a train hall. And there's all that food in there.
[00:18:03] Speaker A: And it's one of my favorite food courts, actually. I say it all the time.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, it's beautiful, my friend. You guys, you have done an amazing job.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: And your team. I love it. Like I said, I think I walk it at least.
At least once or twice a week.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: You know, and I actually do tours there too, but by myself. Yeah, definitely.
Well, when I was there a couple of weeks ago for the kickoff of the year on the High Line.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: Yeah. It was great to meet you.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's great to meet you too. And that's. I'm so happy you're here because of that. Yeah. And one of the. The gardeners, you know, took us, took a few of us, you know, here and there to explain what the High Line is and about the plants and the trees and just that little bit of time I learned so much because the high line is 30ft above ground.
And then the root system have hardly any room to work. Right?
[00:18:52] Speaker B: That's right. There's about. There's primarily 18 inches of soil. 18, 18 inches of soil.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: So. And then you have flowers and shrubs and trees all kind of mingled together. Correct?
[00:19:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: We have a root system.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: 30 foot tall oak trees and birch trees growing in 18 inches of soil.
[00:19:07] Speaker A: That's fascinating.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: And the High Line is complex in his planning. So not only are there 30 foot tall birch trees, but underneath that are flowering dogwoods or redbuds or these, you know, kind of spring flowering trees. And then below that is this complex layer of grasses and perennials and ferns that kind of make up a tapestry of ground cover. And that's, you know, I think why the High Line is so beloved is because there is this incredible complexity of plants that look very natural. And to get all of that to be happy in 18 inches of soil where it can Be hot. More bridge. Right. So it's hot air on top and hot air underneath and the weather like we're having now, or cold air in the winter.
So if you want to know the kind of plants you should be planting in the face of climate change, come to the High Line.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: Because ask you that.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: The. The plants on the High Line are so resilient. They really know how to kind of survive, and they're going to have the will to kind of really make do with kind of the climate chaos that may be coming to climate change.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: I was specifically going to ask about climate change and if the plants are affected, but they've learned to adapt in a sense. Yeah.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: And, you know, we. We do make substitutions, like Pete is.
Comes every couple of years. In fact, he's doing a project in Philadelphia right now, so he's been through New York a couple times this year already. And he gives us a lot of feedback and tells us, oh, this is working. We got some new plants. When he was here last October, we got 12 new plants that we're trying on the High Line. So if people have been coming to the High Line and they think it continues to look the same, they should come back in the fall after our plants have had a chance to grow in. There's some really fun new things to look at.
[00:20:46] Speaker A: Do you have a favorite plant or tree or anything like that?
[00:20:49] Speaker B: I get asked that question a lot, and it depends on the season.
Right now, I think my favorite thing is this plant that's called culver's root.
It's a North American perennial. It's kind of from the prairie, and it has these beautiful kind of whorled leaves, but it's very kind of tall, spiky flowers that kind of look like a turkey foot.
And the bees love it. But you know what makes it such a great plant for the way Pete out off designs is that it looks great in all the seasons. So that flower ages to this wonderful rusty chocolate brown, and then it stays up all winter.
Yeah, you get this beautiful kind of structure.
It's a great bee plant.
And Pete calls those the skeletons, the seed skeletons.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:21:42] Speaker B: And that's one of the things about his design, is that he's designing for the winter garden that he wants everyone to understand the beauty of decay that we can see.
A plant isn't worth growing unless it looks good dead, he likes to say. And that really changed the way we do horticulture. You know, people were, you know, putting their gardens to bed in September or October, and Pete said, no, let's so the grasses stay up and there's fall color and Right. You know, there's seed heads that look great with a little snow dusting on them.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: I agree.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: It really extends the ability to be in the garden and see the beauty of it.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: That day of the summer event, that morning, too, when I was walking on the High Line, I saw these huge magnolia blossoms I've never seen. There was one kind of towards the north end.
Can't really think of what street it would be.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: It's like 26.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Right around there. And it was literally on top of the High Line to the left of what would be that building with those amazing fire escapes that go up the side of the building.
[00:22:42] Speaker B: Yeah, that's.
[00:22:42] Speaker A: And. But I was actually touched. I was touching it because people were walking under it and didn't see it, but they saw me, you know, taking a picture of it and people are, you know, gasping.
[00:22:52] Speaker B: We.
[00:22:53] Speaker A: That's like the size of.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: Honestly, it's been the second most asked question on the High Line is about. That's called the big leaf magnolia.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, really?
[00:23:00] Speaker B: And it's this big white saucer flower that's probably about 12 inches across.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: Huge.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:06] Speaker A: I had never seen it.
[00:23:06] Speaker B: And they can be.
They can sometimes smell sweet, but there's. They're also pollinated by beetles in their native habitat, so beetles don't need sweet smells to find.
But it, it, it's. And the leaves. It's big leaf magnolia. So the leaves look tropical.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah, they do.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: And it's actually a plant native to, you know, like Virginia, kind of in the. In the middle of the mid Atlantic.
[00:23:28] Speaker A: It's fascinating.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: Yeah. You get to walk on the. On the flyover, that kind of elevated kind of canopy walk. So you get really up close and personal with those flowers and those.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: It's a beauty. I was like. I'd never seen it, and I was. I was surprised and just blown away by its beauty and the smell. The smell was. To me, I thought it was really, really fragrant.
It was.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: Do you want to know what the first most asked question on the High Line is? What is, how do you get to Chelsea Market? Oh, we get that a lot. Yeah.
But, you know, Chelsea Market's a really cool place, and we're happy to have that next to the High Line as well.
[00:24:05] Speaker A: So do you just tell them to go down the stairs?
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Like you go down at 16th or 14th.
[00:24:10] Speaker A: Exactly.
So everybody does how you get to the High Line. And it's on 16th up the high Line. Do you have a favorite Area on the High Line that you like to walk.
[00:24:18] Speaker B: Wow. You know, for me, I think depending on the season, and hopefully my staff isn't listening because it's like having a favorite child.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Right.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: And I don't want them to think I'm favoring one over the other. But the Gansevoort Woodland, which is the very south end of the High Line, we call it our front porch. Cause our headquarters is right there near the Whitney Museum.
And it's the birches. Right. These beautiful forest of gray birch trees, which is a tree that was native to New York City. It was originally known to be growing right here where we live.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: And it's just a tough plant, and it reminds me of my childhood in Michigan, running around the woods, seeing the amazing birch forest.
It's just a really lush environment on the High Line. The Gainsborough Woodland. So I think that's kind of my favorite.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: That's a pretty area. The whole thing is. The whole High Line is beautiful from. From top to bottom. And one. One of my favorite views, too, with all the. The plants and the flowers and everything. And the buildings, too, is when you're kind of standing.
You can help me with the street, probably. I think it's where, like, cook shop is. Where that entrance is. Yeah.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: This 20th Street.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: 20Th, yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that. And all the cars are kind of on that big old vending machine, I call it.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: You know, but if you look south and then you see all the beautiful lush greenery along the sidewalks.
[00:25:40] Speaker B: The Chelsea Grasslands.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: Is that the Chelsea Grasslands?
[00:25:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's. I call it the most iconic section of the highway because it's. It's based kind of on what we call a tall grass North American prairie.
So lots of flowering perennials, you know, this little sunflower that gets very tall, a lot of tall grasses. The culver's root I was talking about grows in that section.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: So pretty. Just.
[00:26:03] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really lush and really evocative.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: Yeah. But every. Every inch of the High Line, though, is. Is stunning. I. You know, it's just such a pretty beautiful space in New York City.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: Well, we have our challenges. You don't. It's. I always say I'm the. I'm. I'm the keeper of the list of what's wrong on the High Line. And I don't. I don't share that with everybody, but it's a big responsibility because we're always trying to make it the best we can. So we're working on certain sections. We're really Excited that Pete Alf has designed a brand new garden for the very north end of the high line at 34th Street.
[00:26:37] Speaker A: Really?
[00:26:38] Speaker B: So there's the last section of the High Line which we call the. Well, it was called the interim walkway. I think we're calling it the western rail yards now.
[00:26:45] Speaker A: Like the pigeon area north of the.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: Pigeon, north of the pigeon as it curls around to the west side highway all the way up to 34th Street. Across the street from Javits Center. It's the very north.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Oh yes.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: It's kind of self seeded.
We haven't remediated all the soil.
So it's the original ballast rock of the. Of the railway.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: I know, exactly.
[00:27:06] Speaker B: Soil has formed and you know, things have sprouted up but we haven't planted them.
[00:27:11] Speaker A: So now with construction and everything moving forward, I think they're going to build more buildings at the top there. And so obviously the High Line has to be incorporated somehow, correct?
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Yeah. The High Line will remain. The western. Western rail yards will be developed. They're working on a revised plan. We weighed in on a couple of ideas that we didn't care much about. The plans that had been suggested by. I think it's related.
So there is a new area and also the state is developing a lot up there as well. Right. Between 33rd and 34th. So that whole section will get developed but the High Line will remain, the views will remain and we're advocating to keep it an experience that will still be wonderful for people.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: Is there room for growth on the south end too or is it at its end?
[00:28:00] Speaker B: The south end is.
Yeah, the southern. So the High Line extended another almost mile south of what it does right now. It stops it at Ganseport street, but it did extend another, I think almost a mile down to Spring street at one point, but that's been torn down. There's a little section that exists in some building.
[00:28:22] Speaker A: Somebody mentioned that.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Which I've never seen but it'd be fun to ferret.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: It would be kind of cool to see it. It'd be cool to do a Facebook post to show that little. Little piece of. Yeah, our Instagram I should say.
But what's a typical day like for you, Richard?
At the High Line?
[00:28:37] Speaker B: At the High Line, yeah. Well, so I'm up early in Central park and then I get to work and often I will take a city bike to 30 to 30, to. To Moynihan and parked the bike and then I cut over on the Moynihan connector to the High Line and walk my way to Work, check in with staff, see how things are doing, make notes.
I like to say that what I really do for my work is I clear the way and inspire the team of people that take care of the High Line.
So part of that is raising funds. The High Line is a New York City park, but the operating budget is completely raised and the maintenance takes place by the Conservancy Friends of the High Line.
So we're free to the public, but we're still raising an operating budget of almost $20 million every year.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I was going to ask you that because I know Central park, you know.
[00:29:28] Speaker B: Right.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: As they're fundraising too, I think they raised like 75 million a year, you know. Yeah. So I mean, that's.
[00:29:35] Speaker B: So I do, I take walks with donors. We create programs for membership and things like that.
And then we've also been doing a lot of what I like to call public outreach and programming.
This is the third year that we've done a horticulture celebration.
Two years ago, we celebrated New York City native plants and we put signs on the High Line. Last year we celebrated Pete Adolph and his contributions to garden design. And he turned 80, came and did a public program for us in October. And then this year you were there for our launch of Nature in the City. Which is, which is. And Richard, it's an amazing celebration of urban ecology. And it's. I like to say that the High Line is more than just a pretty walk in the park.
We are a biodiverse habitat for wildlife.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: And also for people. Because biodiversity is, you know, people aren't separate from nature. We're part of nature.
[00:30:35] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:35] Speaker B: And we need the ability to cool down. We need the ability to kind of slow down and focus on nature. And that whole, you know, organic biome that nature creates has actually been proven to be really helpful and healthful.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: So in a sense, it's a, it's a garden, a park, and a beautiful work of art as well.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: We've created by you and your team.
[00:30:58] Speaker B: Right. We have a wonderful art program as well.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: I love it.
Richard, do you have any plants or flowers or trees with an interesting backstory?
Maybe something that was difficult, that turned out easy, or just something I'll tell.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: You a story about in the flyover, the area where you have the tree canopy walk.
And it was chosen to be the canopy walk because on the original self seeded landscape, there were trees growing there because it's kind of a canyon between two existing buildings.
So the big leaf magnolia is there and there's some other trees. But before I started, they had planted a pawpaw tree.
[00:31:40] Speaker A: Oh, I heard about this.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And pawpaws are this really unique native tree that kind of looked subtropical because they have big leaves and they have a fruit that's kind of like.
It's a very custardy kind of like if people know what a chermoya is like, it's like that.
And so it was a cool plan. And I think the original gardener that planted it years before me just wanted to be able to talk about that.
So we put in a few more because you don't want to have just one of anything because if it wants to feel natural. And so now we've got a grove of like four pawpaws that are growing. And I actually got to eat my first pawpaw ever last year.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: Really?
[00:32:21] Speaker B: And we have some growing this year. We've got like. Shouldn't say this, but we've got like eight or 10 fruit. And they're really interesting because the flowers are fly pollinated.
So they're these little tiny burgundy flowers you can barely see that do not smell very good because they need the flies to find them. But once they're pollinated, they make this beautiful custardy fruit.
[00:32:42] Speaker A: When the other. You know, the other week when I was there in the morning and one of the gardeners was leading us around and they were telling us about this berry that the birds get drunk on or something. Is that correct?
[00:32:55] Speaker B: Yeah, the serviceberry, probably, or sometimes called juneberry. We have a lot of those on the park. They're amelanchiers and they're a native tree. And they're beautiful spring blossoms. Very ephemeral, very early spring blooms, which is great for our early pollinators. And then they have these berries that form and turn kind of blueberry black. Right, right. Well, we're a little past them in early June.
They're delicious. Honestly, they're delicious. They don't ship very well, which is why you don't probably see them in the store. But wow. My staff has made muffins and pies.
[00:33:31] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:33:32] Speaker B: We really enjoy.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: No idea.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: And the birds, once they ferment a little bit, the birds will come in. And the pigeons especially. Yeah, yeah, they really like them.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: That's pretty funny.
The gardener, she told us, I think, that the birds get drunk and they fall off the tree or something, which was.
[00:33:49] Speaker B: That can also happen. We have some crab apples, and the crab apples stay up. And sometimes in the fall those will ferment.
And so the birds will come and Eat them and.
[00:33:57] Speaker A: Yeah, that's an interesting story.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: The birds get a little drunk.
[00:34:02] Speaker A: That's pretty funny. And I also know that you have artists, different artists on the High Line throughout the Highland. And they, you know, they change during the years sometimes. Do you. How does that work? Do you collaborate with them on their artwork?
How does this.
[00:34:18] Speaker B: So we have. Actually, it's funny, I just had a really nice bottle of champagne show up on my desk as a thank you from.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: Oh, that's pretty cool.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: From the Freeze, folks. Because we participated with that artist in helping them do a project that was associated with the High Line.
So, yeah, we have sculptures on the High Line. There's I think six or eight that change every year. And then we have the big plinth art piece, which right now is the dinosaur, which is actually, I think, a 15 foot tall pigeon.
[00:34:51] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:34:52] Speaker B: Which is hard to miss.
We just had our big pigeon fest a year ago. I think you made that. Or a year ago. A week ago.
[00:34:58] Speaker A: That was fun.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: Yeah, that was really fun.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: The pigeon costume contest or whatever it was. That was a blast.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah, there's always something going on in the High.
[00:35:06] Speaker A: I like those new candles. Along the north end of the High Line.
[00:35:10] Speaker B: Yes. Like between 26th and 29th.
[00:35:13] Speaker A: And then do people have to wait years or does it take a lot of time to be accepted to have your artwork on the High Line?
[00:35:21] Speaker B: So we have a really robust and excellent art team that curates and selects the art.
And then for our big plinth piece, which changes every 18 months, that's the big sculpture above 30th and 10th Avenue that has a committee involved that chooses. And then there's a charrette of 12 different options and people get to vote on that. And so, yeah, there's a very robust team. And the thing that people don't often understand is that we actually help the produce the art once it's chosen. So it's a fabrication coordination that we have a production team that helps with that, helps to find a location on the High Line and helps to get it fabricated.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: That's interesting. And you know what? I just thought of this too. What about movie sets coming to the High Line? I mean, I see often.
I saw that show from hbo. I forget what it was called that. I used to love Westworld. Yeah, Westworld.
[00:36:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: I think a few times I saw it on the High Line. It was in movies.
[00:36:26] Speaker B: There's a specific building on the High Line, the Zaha Hadid building, which is at, I think 27th Street.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: One of my favorite actually.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really sci fi looking very future forward. And that serves as a background to a lot of, a lot of sci fi and, and different kinds of TV shows and movies.
[00:36:44] Speaker A: Yep. And also I see actually where the, the Chelsea Market is of the High Line space on the Chelsea Market. I see a lot of movies and things, HBO shows like we talked about there.
[00:36:55] Speaker B: And you know, we, we also serve as a venue for, for various events like we've done, you know, big fashion shows and things like that on the High Line. It's one of the ways that we also help to kind of offset costs is that we'll do, you know, rentals for big events and things like that.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: Well, Diane von Furstenberg's chop is right there.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: I would assume she is.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Well, she, and she was a very early and a very, very, very dedicated supporter for the High Line. In fact, our, our headquarters building is named the Diller von Furstenberg Building.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:37:24] Speaker B: They made some very significant gifts to get us started in the early days because her, her flagship is right on 14th Street.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: Right. That's really impressive.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:31] Speaker A: And kind of her, because, you know, she, you know, was part of the High Line and Little Island, I guess, you know, her and her husband as well.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: Very neighbor focused and yeah, we're really happy to have their support.
[00:37:43] Speaker A: Yeah. The High Line, what, what an amazing space.
Is there any.
Have you had any issues with weather? You know, as, as, you know, your team is out, you know, beautifying the park, you know, doing what they do, and then here comes the weather and it's just running for the hills.
[00:37:59] Speaker B: Well, so, you know, obviously we leave the gardens up all winter.
[00:38:04] Speaker A: Right.
[00:38:04] Speaker B: And then in March is when we really do what we call the, the big cutback. And so all the perennials and grasses are cut back to about 5 or 6 inches tall. And all of that material is gathered and taken off site often to Governors island to a community composting facility. And they turn that into compost and we bring the finished compost back and that's our, we're a completely organic garden. So our only inputs are really compost and compost derived fertilizers. And we don't actually use a lot of fertilizer in the grasslands. They don't want to be too fertile.
So when it comes to weather, our work in March can be, you know, it's brutal on the High Line if the wind is blowing and it's very cold. And we have almost 200 plus volunteers that help with that cutback. So It's a real community effort.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: The other thing that we deal with a lot is the wind. And, you know, when I first started, I was looking at all these birch trees and oak trees that are, you know, 30 foot tall on the high line, growing in 18 inches of soil. And I, it kept me up at night because, you know, we, I, I'd forgotten. But you know, New York gets its share of hurricanes, right. And those kind of winds. And I was, every time the wind would blow, I would, I would just be so worried.
[00:39:20] Speaker A: And then I never thought about that.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: Well, I was hiking up in the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut shortly after I started at the High Line and there had been a windstorm and these giant trees had blown over and they were only growing in 18 inches of soil because there was so much glacial rock.
And so I kind of relaxed at that point because I realized Mother Nature had already figured out how to have an entire garden growing in 18 inches of soil because all the roots kind of intertwine and they just kind of make it work with the flexibility. And, and so the weather can be bad, but it's amazing how resilient most everything on the High Line is.
[00:39:59] Speaker A: That's interesting how you piece those two together. I would have never thought about that. That's fascinating. Now your brain works with that.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: Interesting. Well, what about today too? We have 100 degree weather. So now we have summer weather where it's, you know, it's this record 100 degree heat that has to affect the trees and the plants and the flowers and everything on the High Line.
[00:40:20] Speaker B: It sure does. And I'll tell you, one of the things I was doing this morning was last year we kind of converted our irrigation system to a really smart computerized system that actually has these little moisture sensors in the soil in various beds. And so this morning I was online looking at the moisture content for some of the beds, seeing what was low, seeing what might need a little bit more water. So we're able to be really smart about the irrigation we're applying and that everything is operable from, you know, from your smartphone.
[00:40:52] Speaker A: Right.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: And that comes in very handy because helps us to ensure kind of an. Even with only 18 inches of soil, it's really easy to dry out, especially this kind of heat.
So we're able to really kind of target the irrigation and set, set up a minimal schedule that then we can supplement as needed.
[00:41:12] Speaker A: You know, this might be a silly question, but what about the water that during the summertime when it run, you know, for the kids to play In.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. We have a wonderful little water feature. It's kind of a sheeting water feature.
It's really smart between 14th and 15th, which gives you just this surface of just like a half an inch of water, which is great. If you're. If you've been walking all day in New York City and you have your sandals on, you can. Or your shoes. You can come and take your shoes off. I walk through all the time with my shoes on.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: I do, too.
[00:41:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's just. And, and that water feature, you know, people are like, is this okay? And I'm. It's. It's like a swimming pool.
[00:41:50] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:41:51] Speaker B: It's treated. It's. It's just.
[00:41:53] Speaker A: Does the water go back to the plants?
[00:41:55] Speaker B: No, no, it's completely closed system.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: Oh, I got.
[00:41:58] Speaker B: So it's just like a water fountain and it, it. The water sheets across and then seeps back into a tank where it gets treated and then. And then sent back up.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: This might be a silly question, but, you know, you have millions. How many million people walk the High Line every year?
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Well, we're. Last year was six and a half million. In 2019, it was eight and a half million.
[00:42:17] Speaker A: Wow.
Yeah. So it's growing and growing and growing.
So do you.
Do you think about the people from all different areas of. All over the world. Different areas of the world in regards to maybe what you may plant or.
Yeah, to what you may plant or. How does that work?
[00:42:37] Speaker B: We've done some studies to see just who our visitors are. Right. And I'd love to be able to trot those specific statistics out, but I'm not going to remember them right now. But it's about a third. It's about a third is New York tri state area, a third is us, and then another third is International, I think.
[00:42:58] Speaker A: Sounds about right. It's like my tour business. Yeah.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: And we want to be really making sure, first of all, that we're a park that's for New York City and all five boroughs. So we really try to make sure. And like the event that you came to for our launch of the Nature in the City event, we invited nonprofits from around the five boroughs that are working in urban ecology so that we can kind of take what we're doing on the High Line and include a lot of maybe smaller organizations and get people together so they can see some of the solutions that everybody's using.
[00:43:33] Speaker A: Right.
[00:43:34] Speaker B: Because I think a lot of times everybody's out there doing the work, but they're not really having a chance. To engage with other organizations doing like minded work and finding out shared solutions and things like that. So that's the first thing I think, you know, when you say what are you doing to kind of support your visitors? And then, you know, secondly, obviously we get a lot of tourists, a lot of foreign speaking folks. The good news now I think is that a lot of folks have a smartphone that can translate.
[00:44:02] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah.
[00:44:03] Speaker B: Because trying to have a language that fits everybody on all of our signage just you know, obviously becomes kind of impossible.
[00:44:10] Speaker A: Right.
[00:44:11] Speaker B: So we're excited to be able to present that kind of information, you know, with the, you know, like you saw at the 14th street passage between, just south of 14th Street. I think it's 160 linear feet of educational panels that are incredibly artfully illustrated. Right. Great illustrator this year.
So it's really fun. And there's stuff for families.
We have a scavenger hunt that's available for kids if they stop in at one of the greeter carts which are at Gansevoort Street.
[00:44:45] Speaker A: Oh, I'm glad you brought that up for kids.
[00:44:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:44:48] Speaker A: So what else do you have? Do you have anything else for kids?
[00:44:50] Speaker B: Well, we do have an education department that does family programming. And so there will be family days on the High Line and then they'll have different activities that they engage with. And this year will be activities that are around the biodiversity and the urban ecology subjects.
[00:45:05] Speaker A: So say there's a tourist of, you know, from any, anywhere in the world, be it the United States or around the world. You know, I never, I hadn't thought about this that they can.
Because a lot of my listeners from around the world ask me what is there for children to do in New York City? And that's a great option to send them to the High Line and they can.
Yeah, absolutely.
[00:45:30] Speaker B: And if they're looking for even specific project or programs, they can visit the Highline.org events.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Right.
[00:45:39] Speaker B: And they'll see what's coming up and see if it aligns. Their visit aligns with, you know, one of the specific programs that the education folks are putting on.
[00:45:48] Speaker A: That's awesome. That's something I would, I love to tell people now because I hadn't really thought of that. And I think that's a great option, you know, something in New York City, the High Line.
[00:45:57] Speaker B: And then, you know, the scavenger hunt is a drop in anytime. Yeah, they, I think the, the greeter carts are out Wednesday to Sunday.
[00:46:04] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. That's, that's a, that's a, that's a.
I didn't think about that. That's a great idea. Great idea. Richard, is it true that you once said, if a plant isn't beautiful when it's dead, it's not worth having?
[00:46:17] Speaker B: Well, I have to actually attribute that quote to our garden designer, Pete Oudall.
[00:46:21] Speaker A: Oh, is that who said it?
[00:46:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And he said, a plant isn't worth growing unless it looks good dead.
And then the New York Times picked it up.
[00:46:28] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:46:29] Speaker B: And. But later I asked Pete about that quote, and he said, oh, yeah, it's my translation. My English isn't so good. And what he meant is it. It's not worth growing unless it looks good when it's decaying.
So it may not be dead. It's just. It's the end of the season, it's getting cold, and so it's turning brown and. And senescing, as we say in the horticulture world, but it's going to come back the next year.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: Interesting. Yeah, very interesting.
Richard, do you secretly name any of the plants?
[00:47:02] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:47:03] Speaker A: Oh, you do?
[00:47:04] Speaker B: I'm not giving you any names, though.
[00:47:05] Speaker A: Oh, that's. That's fair.
[00:47:06] Speaker B: Secrets.
[00:47:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I like that.
[00:47:07] Speaker B: Yeah. No, we have a. There's. Well, okay, so it's sent us.
We have very few onesies on the High Line right there. Because it's a naturalistic garden. You always have multiple, so it feels natural. But there's only one river birch on the entire Highland, and it kind of snuck in with the gray birches down in the Gainsport Woodland. And so we have the river birch. We kind of have a special name for that.
[00:47:30] Speaker A: I'm not sharing.
That's fair. That's hilarious.
How do you keep people from touching or damaging things without fencing them off?
[00:47:38] Speaker B: So, you know, the. My gosh, that's. That's the third rail of the High Line, right?
[00:47:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:45] Speaker B: We had to put up some bed protection to keep people from walking in the beds too much. And I'll be honest with you, one of the definitions of having a public garden is knowing that there's going to be some steps off the. Off the path. Right. It just comes with the territory.
So the fact that we get visitation, we're the most visited public garden in the country by multiples. And so the fact that we don't have more damage is really kind of amazing.
Honestly.
[00:48:16] Speaker A: Interesting. And what's your favorite view from the High Line? And what do you see when you're there?
[00:48:22] Speaker B: Good question. I think we talked a little bit earlier maybe about the.
The view of the Chelsea grasslands from the 20th street stairs. And that stairway is getting replaced. And so right now it goes up like eight, eight steps. And it goes across the railing and then back down. So you get this elevated view.
And that's probably my favorite view on the High Line. You can also. Right, almost from that section, you can also see the Empire State Building.
[00:48:48] Speaker A: Oh, yes.
[00:48:48] Speaker B: So it's one of the few, few views of the Empire State Building that's still left on the High Line.
[00:48:53] Speaker A: You know what's interesting you said that, because when I take people on the High Line, that's one of my favorite things to do is also point out how you can see the High Line in certain places. I mean, the Empire State Building on the High Line in certain places.
[00:49:04] Speaker B: Well, and in that same view, you get the, the High Line Hotel, which is the old Seminary building that's right there on, on 10th Avenue between, between 20 and 21. So you get that beautiful red brick and then you get the Empire State Building behind it.
[00:49:20] Speaker A: In one word, what does nature mean to you, Richard?
[00:49:28] Speaker B: Nature is simple and it's a thing that we're all a part of.
I like to say that even that dandelion growing in the crack of the sidewalk is nature. And there could be some little native bee that's finding that dandelion just in the nick of time to get a little drink of nectar and continue on its day.
Nature is something that we need and we need to connect with and everybody can do it.
[00:49:54] Speaker A: I love how nature is interconnected into New York City.
You know, that's beautifully done with the High Line especially.
[00:50:01] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And there's a lot of great groups that are working on bringing more nature and supporting the nature that's in the city.
[00:50:07] Speaker A: Nicely said, my friend.
So, Richard, before we let you go, we here at the New Yorkers Podcast want to know what it means to you, Richard Hayden, to be a New Yorker.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
Gosh. You know, to be a New Yorker is to be in community.
Some people, you know, I've heard friends of mine who've never really spent much time in New York will say, oh, it's such a cold place and it's so off putting, but those of us that live here just understand how, how amazing it is to be part of the community that's New York City. It's, you know, walking a couple blocks to the south and seeing a great Broadway show or seeing a great art exhibit or a great festival over in Brooklyn or something. There's just so much going on to get in the middle of that.
It's like to slurp up the oyster, to take a bite of the biggest apple in the world.
It's just an incredible experience to have that and to have just this smorgasbord of activities and wonderful things to do.
And it can be as simple as hanging out with all my friends while we're dog walking in the morning and just starting your day catching up with people.
It's everywhere and we're all having this shared experience in the most exciting city in the country, if not the world.
[00:51:28] Speaker A: Beautifully said.
I think the listeners will really appreciate and envision what you're saying too. That's really nice. I loved it. Really nice.
[00:51:38] Speaker B: I won't get into the fear of missing out that I feel.
Does everybody have that that lives in New York?
[00:51:43] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:51:43] Speaker B: Oh, I didn't get a chance to see that. You know, there's that, that whole like FOMO thing.
[00:51:49] Speaker A: Yep.
Richard, thank you for joining us today for this week's episode of the New Yorkers Podcast. Why don't you let everyone know where they can find you and the High Line on social media?
[00:52:01] Speaker B: Yeah, so. Good question.
Well, they can find the High line at Highline NYC on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
And also we're on LinkedIn and then and of course the website, the highline.org the highline dawg.
And then I am @naturegardener on Instagram and also on LinkedIn and on Bluesky. So I'm not on Facebook anymore.
[00:52:38] Speaker A: Nice. Yeah, I think I have to look for you on bluesky.
[00:52:41] Speaker B: If I'm not following you, please like and subscribe to the New Yorkers Podcast and you can follow the New Yorkers on social media at the New Yorkers Podcast.
[00:52:51] Speaker A: You can leave a rating or a comment to let us know how you are enjoying the show. We read through all your comments and DMs. So please, we would love to hear from you. Thank you Jennifer Southwood, Bev Boyle and Laurie Foster for your kind words on the last episode. If you want to be featured at the end of an episode, leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.
[00:53:13] Speaker B: And thank you Emma Ward, Steve Larose and Helen Bradford for your comments on Facebook.
[00:53:18] Speaker A: Have a lovely day everyone and we'll see you next time time.
[00:53:21] Speaker B: It's been great to be with you Kelly. Thanks for having me Richard.
[00:53:24] Speaker A: It's been a pleasure, truly and I will see you on the High Line soon.
[00:53:27] Speaker B: You got it.
[00:53:31] Speaker A: Thank you New York100 for sponsoring this episode.
To learn more about them, visit NY100ORG.
This is the last stop on this train. Everyone, please leave the train. Thank you for riding with mta New York City Transit.
