Return to the High Line in New York

A man makes his way along the High Line, a stretch of elevated railway tracks along New York's West Side that has now been transformed into a park Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Railway tracks have been integrated into the design of the new park Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

The Standard hotel straddles the line beside Washington Street in the Meatpacking District Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Plants grow between the concrete walkway as they once did in the decades when the line was disused Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Industrial buildings silhouetted beside the High Line where it starts in the Meatpacking District in lower Manhattan Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Meat hooks remain beside the line at its start in the Meatpacking District Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Stained glass windows decorate the line where it crosses West 15th and 16th streets Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Spurs of the High Line used to reach into warehouse buildings, so goods could be delivered by the freight trains that ran along it, until 1980. The skyscrapers of Jersey City can be seen in the background Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

A window has been built into the line at West 17th Street to provide views over 10th Avenue Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Flowers peek out over the streets of lower Manhattan Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

A taxi drives underneath the High Line at West 17th Street Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

The Empire State Building as seen from the High Line Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

An ivy-covered building beside the High Line Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

Pedestrians walk along the High Line Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

A fire escape level with the High Line Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

The High Line Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

The High Line crossing West 23rd Street in Chelsea Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

The next section of the line, taking it up towards Hell's Kitchen in Midtown, is currently under construction Photograph: Paul Owen/guardian.co.uk

The High Line in 1934 Photograph: guardian.co.uk