Highline access

Before the elevated structure you see today existed, the street-level train tracks here were so dangerous to pedestrians that Tenth Avenue earned the nickname Death Avenue. To manage the risks, the railroad employed men on horseback known as West Side Cowboys to ride in front of the freight trains. These men waved red flags by day and lanterns by night to warn people of the oncoming traffic, yet accidents remained frequent. The city finally committed to the massive West Side Improvement project in the late nineteen twenties to lift the tracks thirty feet into the air.