I've written previously about the aesthetics of riding (and watching) elevated trains. Passengers gaze perpendicular to the direction of travel, raised roughly 30 feet above the street, gliding a lazy 25 miles per hour uninterrupted between stations. Much has been said about the intimate views into the windows of apartment buildings nearly flush with the trains; perhaps too little has been said of the clear vistas down cross streets.
The opening of Phase 2 of New York's High Line expands the possibility for this perspective. The High Line was an elevated freight railroad on the west side of Manhattan, active from 1934 to 1980. Although passenger trains never operated on this corridor, today the structure has been converted into one of the most celebrated new parks in recent memory. Throughout the West 20s visitors are treated to this unusual and increasingly rare view of the city.
Elevated above the chaos on the streets, one can calmly survey the area. We see architecture left over from the westside's industrial and meatpacking days. Then there is the new glass and steel apartment buildings brought on by the West-Chelsea-gentrification-trifecta: the homosexual colonization of the 1980s, the art gallery scene displaced from SoHo in the early 2000s, and indeed the High Line park itself. And of course there are uninterrupted views of New Jersey and Brooklyn.
If you enjoy riding elevated trains, I highly suggest the following corridors in New York for their wonderful views: F/G trains from 4th Avenue to Carroll Street (Brooklyn); Q train from Sheepshead Bay to Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue (Brooklyn); J/M/Z trains from Marcy Avenue to Essex Street (Brooklyn/Manhattan); B/D/N/Q trains over the Manhattan Bridge (Brooklyn/Manhattan); N train from 36th Avenue to Queensboro Plaza (Queens); 7 train from 33rd Street to Hunters Point Avenue (Queens); A train from Aqueduct/N Conduit Ave to Beach 36th Street (Queens); 4 train from 149th Street/Grand Concourse to Fordham Road (Bronx); 1 train over the Broadway Bridge (Bronx/Manhattan).
Related posts: Reading Viaduct, Philadelphia, Paris 4 and IRT Pelham Line