If you're one of the city's public-space old-architecture fiends, chances are you've long been jonesing for the opening of the High Line park.
While there is no official opening date ("Spring") for the former industrial train line to open, the pictures-in-progress are getting increasingly tempting.
The official High Line blog has offered glimpses of bush with new pink blooms, new benches made of sustainable Brazilian hardwood, and some genuine architecture porn.
If you want to secure a spot at the exclusive Opening Season celebration, you'll need to make a donation of at least $350 to the non-profit Friends of the High Line.
The Friends of the High Line is also working to secure the preservation of the one stretch of the High Line it doesn't yet have rights to. The West Side Rail Yards, just south of the Javits Convention Center, is home to the final stretch of the elevated rails. It was briefly open to the public during Open House NY and for sketching classes, but it faces possible destruction to make way for a development project planned by the Related Companies.
For a live image of the High Line, see the website for The Standard hotel, which straddles the park near its base in the MeatPacking District.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that a $350 membership contribution to the Friends of the High Line would guarantee an invitation to a preview party on the High Line. However, the Opening Season party will not be held on the High Line itself, and there's also the possibility that it may take place after the park has opened to the public. Section 1 of the High Line is tentatively scheduled to open in early June, a Friends of the High Line official told NBC.
