The Highline is an old, elevated rail line that runs for a mile and a half right through Manhattan.
高架线是一条旧的高架轨道，它直通曼哈顿有一英里半的距离。
And it was originally a freight line that ran down 10th Ave.
它原本是沿着第十大街的货运线。
And it became known as "Death Avenue" because so many people were run over by the trains
它因“死亡大道”而得名，因为许多人被列车压死，
that the railroad hired a guy on horseback to run in front, and he became known as the "West Side Cowboy."
以至于铁路局聘请马背上的一个家伙要跑在火车前鸣笛开道，他就是著名的“西区小子”。
But even with a cowboy, about one person a month was killed and run over. So they elevated it.
但即使有这样的牛仔，每月还是会有差不多一个人被压死。所以他们建了高架轨道。
They built it 30 ft. in the air, right through the middle of the city.
他们在空中30英尺的高度建造铁路，穿越市中心。
But with the rise of interstate trucking, it was used less and less. And by 1980, the last train rode.
但随着州际货运的兴起，高架线被用得越来越少。到1980年，最后一班列车运行。
It was a train loaded with frozen turkeys -- they say, at Thanksgiving -- from the meatpacking district. And then it was abandoned.
据说，在感恩节，那是一辆装有冷冻火鸡的列车--从肉类加工区开出。然后高架线被弃用。
And I live in the neighborhood, and I first read about it in the New York Times, in an article that said it was going to be demolished.
我住在附近，我第一次在《纽约时报》读到这个，文章指出铁路即将被拆除。
And I assumed someone was working to preserve it or save it and I could volunteer, but I realized no one was doing anything.
我以为有人正计划要维护、保存铁路，我可以志愿，但我发现没有人采取任何行动。
I went to my first community board meeting -- which I'd never been to one before
我第一次去了社区委员会会议--之前我从没去过
and sat next to another guy named Joshua David, who's a travel writer. And at the end of the meeting,
邻座的另一个人名叫约书亚·大卫，他是一名旅行作家。在会议之后，
we realized we were the only two people that were sort of interested in the project; most people wanted to tear it down.
我意识到我们是仅有的两个会对这计划感兴趣的人；多数人想要拆除它。
So we exchanged business cards, and we kept calling each other and decided to start this organization, Friends of the High Line.
所以我们交换了名片，我们互通电话，决定开始成立这个组织：高架线的朋友。
And the goal at first was just saving it from demolition, but then we also wanted to figure out what we could do with it.
起初目标仅是保护它不要被拆除，但后来我们也想搞明白我们可以为此做些什么。
And what first attracted me, or interested me, was this view from the street
首先吸引我的或让我感兴趣的，是从这街上看过去的高架线
which is this steel structure, sort of rusty, this industrial relic.
它是这种有点生锈的钢铁结构，这种工业建筑遗产。
But when I went up on top, it was a mile and a half of wildflowers running right through the middle of Manhattan
但当我走到铁轨上，看到的是一英里半的野花，遍布于曼哈顿城中，
with views of the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson River.
可以看见帝国大厦、自由女神像和哈得逊河。
And that's really where we started, the idea coalesced around, let's make this a park,
这的确就是我们开始要着手的，结合周围的想法就是让我们把这建成一个公园，
and let's have it be sort of inspired by this wildscape.
让我们把它建成是受这种野外景色激发灵感的公园。
At the time, there was a lot of opposition. Mayor Giuliani wanted to tear it down.
那时候，还有很多阻力。朱利亚尼市长想要拆除它。
I'm going to fast-forward through a lot of lawsuits and a lot of community engagement.
我在此略过一连串的诉讼和社区聚会的细节。
Mayor Bloomberg came in office, he was very supportive, but we still had to make the economic case.
布隆伯格市长来到办公室，他是非常支持的，但我们还得面对经济问题。
This was after 9/11; the city was in tough times.
这是在9/11之后；纽约市处于困难时期。
So we commissioned an economic feasibility study to try to make the case.
所以我们委托了一家经济可行性研究，试着达成计划。
And it turns out, we got those numbers wrong. We thought it would cost 100 million dollars to build.
结果显示，我们估计错误。当初预估的改造成本为一亿美元。
So far it's cost about 150 million.
到目前为止，它的成本约为一亿五千万。
And the main case was, this is going to make good economic sense for the city. So we said over a 20-year time period,
而提预算的重点是，这将会带给这城市良好的经济影响。所以我们说在20年的时间内，
the value to the city in increased property values and increased taxes would be about 250 million.
这座城市增加的房地产值和税收的总值约为二亿五千万美元。

That was enough. It really got the city behind it. It turns out we were wrong on that.
这就足够支持此计划了。但结果显示我们估计错误。
Now people estimate it's created about a half a billion dollars,
现在人们预估这已经创造了约五亿美元的价值，
or will create about a half a billion dollars, in tax revenues for the city.
或者将创造约五亿美元的价值，这指的是城市税收部分。
We did a design competition, selected a design team.
我们举办一个设计比赛，选出一个设计团队。
We worked with them to really create a design that was inspired by that wildscape. There's three sections.
我们和该团队合作，创造一个由野外景观激发灵感的设计。公园总共分成三区。
We opened the fist section in 2009. It's been successful beyond our dreams.
第一区于2009年对外开放。结果比我们理想中还成功。
Last year we had about two million people, which is about 10 times what we ever estimated.
去年参观人数约两百万人，是我们预估的十倍左右。
This is one of my favorite features in section one. It's this amphitheater right over 10th Ave.
这是第一区中我最喜爱的景致之一。在第十大道正上方的圆形露天剧场。
And the first section ends at 20th St. right now.
目前第一区的终点在第20街。
The other thing, it's generated, obviously, a lot of economic value; it's also inspired, I think, a lot of great architecture.
此外，显然公园创造了很多经济价值；我想，它也给予了很多很棒的建筑灵感。
There's a point, you can stand here and see buildings by Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Neil Denari.
你可以站在站里，观赏弗兰克·盖里、让·努维尔、坂茂、尼尔·丹尼瑞设计的建筑。
And the Whitney is moving downtown and is building their new museum right at the base of the High Line.
而且惠特尼美国艺术博物馆也要迁移到城中，在高架线基地旁盖新的博物馆。
And this has been designed by Renzo Piano. And they're going to break ground in May.
该博物馆由伦佐·皮亚诺设计。在2011年5月动土开工。
And we've already started construction on section two. This is one of my favorite features,
我们也已经开始建造第二区。这是我最爱的景致之一，
this flyover where you're eight feet off the surface of the High Line, running through a canopy of trees.
这坐天桥位于高架线上方8英尺，穿梭于树冠之间。
The High Line used to be covered in billboards, and so we've taken a playful take where,
高架线过去曾被广告牌围绕，所以我们采用另一个好玩的方法，
instead of framing advertisements, it's going to frame people in views of the city.
过去用来展示广告的框架，将呈现城市中人们的风貌。
This was just installed last month.
上个月才刚完成安装。
And then the last section was going to go around the rail yards, which is the largest undeveloped site in Manhattan.
最后一部分，则是环绕着铁路站广场，是曼哈顿里最大的未开发区。
And the city has planned -- for better or for worse -- 12 million square-feet of development that the High Line is going to ring around.
这座城市已经进行了规划--不管是更好还是更糟--将促进高架线环绕的一千两百万平方米的区域的发展。
But what really, I think, makes the High Line special is the people.
但我认为，真的使高架线特别的，是人们。
And honestly, even though I love the designs that we were building,
说实话，即使我喜爱我们当时正在建造的设计，
I was always frightened that I wouldn't really love it,
我总是害怕我不会真的喜欢它，
because I fell in love with that wildscape -- and how could you recreate that magic?
因为我早已被原本的野生景观所吸引--你要如何再次创造这种魔力？
But what I found is it's in the people and how they use it that, to me, makes it so special.
但我发现，对我而言，是这里的人们以及他们如何使用它，才使得高架线如此特别。
Just one quick example is I realized right after we opened that there were all these people holding hands on the High Line.
举个简单的例子，我发现就在开放这三个区之后，所有这些人在高架线上牵着手了。
And I realized New Yorkers don't hold hands; we just don't do that outside.
我知道纽约人从不牵手，我们在外边不会这么做。
But you see that happening on the High Line, and I think that's the power
但是你看到这一幕在高架线上发生了，我想这就是一种力量，
that public space can have to transform how people experience their city and interact with each other. Thanks.
使得公共空间可以改变人们体验自己城市的方式，并且相互之间交流起来。谢谢。