On the beautiful spring evening of May 13, 2014, NJSWEP representatives joined host, The New York City Brownfield Partnership,  and sponsor, The Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast, for an unusual guided tour of the High Line.  The High Line is an elevated freight rail line that was transformed into an innovative public park on the West Side of Manhattan (we accessed it from 30th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues), a new, must-see destination in NYC.  Most High Line tours focus on the adjacent architecture of the new developments or the landscape architectural and public art features of the park.   Not this walking tour!  Ours focused on 6 ongoing or completed development sites along the park that are being remediated for reuse. Speakers included Dan Walsh, the Director of the NYC Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) whose office was involved with every project along the route; Gary Rozmus of GEI Consultants, who spoke about CSX's decision process to allow the defunct rail line to be used for recreational purposes; and consultants from Langan and AKRF as well as Posillico, the contractor for one of the sites currently being remediated.  Hudson Yards, a large mixed used redevelopment and the Whitney Museum's new location at 820 Washington St. were featured on the tour. The tour group of about 65 completed the tour at a beer garden under the High Line, near the Standard Hotel. 

Elizabeth Limbrick (NJIT)  and Jillian Mooney (Riker Danzig), SWEP co-chairs attended; as did Stephanie Turkot (Geo-Cleanse), SWEP Program Chair; Cristin Mustillo (Sedita Campisano), Sue Boyle (GEI), and Jeanne Litwin (CDM).  This is an event that bears repeating, perhaps annually and will be a GREAT way to ramp up our Metro Net efforts.  Several women from Langan's NYC office asked about SWEP and Metro Net specifically; this  collaborative tour may have long-lasting positive impacts on SWEP