Indian elephants migrating through New York City until Oct. 20. Here, along Gansevoort Street.
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The Great Elephant Migration will be in New York City’s Meatpacking District until Oct. 20. It’s a free outdoor exhibit with an environmental theme.
The 100 or so elephants were made by artists in India using Lantana camara, an invasive plant species in that country. So there is a theme but mostly it’s just a fun exhibit along Gansevoort Street and nearby.
Read the official stuff about it here.
I have written before about almost head-butting a live camel in the city. The elephant experience is more fun. It also offers a chance to stroll along an old elevated train track and visit a new island in New York, see below.
The elephants were in Newport, Rhode Island, earlier, enjoying one of the most scenic spots on the East Coast. They will head to Miami in October. Later, they will be in Montana and finish their migration in Los Angeles.
They are for sale, with small ones starting at $8,000. Each has a whimsical name, such as Flower Pecker.
We saw the exhibit on Wednesday, the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, on a beautiful hot day in Manhattan. The elephants are spread out over several blocks.
The exhibit is centered around Ninth Avenue and 14th Street, as noted, in the Meatpacking District (there are a few meat business left, but mostly bars, restaurants, stores and apartments). It’s a great area, especially on a nice day, with lots of places. Check prices though.
From Penn Station or the Port Authority Bus Terminal by subway:
There are multiple subway lines to the District, such as the E downtown to 14th Street and Eighth Avenue. Get out, walk west toward Ninth Avenue. You can’t miss elephants.
Or do what we did and walk down the High Line, a 1.45-mile “linear park” on an old elevated freight-train track. From Penn Station, go out the Eighth Avenue exit, or cut through the new Moynihan Station toward Hudson Yards, the huge development along the — yes — Hudson River. From the bus terminal, head for downtown to 34th Street or to Penn Station.
There is a High Line connection just past the Daily Provisions restaurant in a plaza near the Moynihan Station. Or pick up the High Line at 34th Street and 12th Avenue. There are four entrances with elevators. It’s open until 10 p.m.
Head south on the High Line to the end. You’ll see some of the elephants about a block from the 14th Street southern terminus, and once on the ground (at the Whitney Museum of American Art) head east (away from the river) toward Ninth Street.
The southern end of the High Line is also near The Little Island, a quarter-billion-dollar park in the Hudson River. It is also free. You will see it from the High Line.
The Little Island has great views of the river, New Jersey and parts of the city.
Elephants walk in southern Manhattan, until Oct. 20.
A brilliantly sunny day in the city.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 