Josh David- Highline
Along with Robert Hammond, David is co-founder of Friends of the High Line, the group that championed the plan to convert an unused, elevated, 22-block rail line in Chelsea into a city park.
Backstory
David was living on the western edges of Chelsea and working as a freelance writer when he was commissioned to write a piece about his neighborhood. Researching the elevated tracks—which were built in the 1930s and abandoned in the 1980s—he thought it would be a shame to see the relic torn down by real estate developers, which was the plan at the time, and in 1999 banded together with Robert Hammond to found Friends of the High Line. For several years they did battle with the Giuliani administration, which supported local developers who thought property values would rise when the structure was torn down. But Michael Bloomberg proved to be a more sympathetic ear. After the group waged a campaign to convince the administration of the merits of their plan, they earned a green light from Bloomberg and the City Council on the condition FHL come up with the millions required to turn it into a park. They've since lined up a long list of donors and secured one of New York's most prominent architecture firms—Rick Scofidio, Liz Diller and Charles Renfro of DS+R—to carry out the project, which officially opened for visitors in June 2009.
Through the support of Rob Smith, Josh David gave an exclusive tour and interview to Art & Design.
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