New Yorkers looking to improve their health should try getting “High” — the High Line, that is.
The elevated park on Manhattan’s lower west side is good for your health, researchers have found, reporting that it has 37 percent less air and noise pollution than the sidewalk below.
“This elevated walkway has had a positive environmental impact for its users in terms of reduced pedestrian exposure to both noise and air pollution,” say the researchers, from the University of Hartford in Connecticut and Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.
They chalked up the results to the park’s elevation 25 feet above street traffic and to its greenery, which buffers pollutants.
They tested the park from West 14th to West 30th streets for three days in the fall of 2014, stopping 42 times along the way to measure air and noise levels.
The air along the High Line was, on average, a third less polluted than that around the sidewalk below, and the walkway was more than 40 percent less noisy, said the researchers, who combined the results to produce an air/noise index.
The findings came as little surprise to parkgoers.
“It’s true. It’s really more quiet,” said Ivan Simeoli, 56, a chef enjoying a stroll on Sunday afternoon.
The researchers found the quietest spot on the High Line compared with the street level was around West 23rd Street, where the walkway is especially far from 10th Avenue.
Dog sitters, and their furry charges, appreciate the park’s quiet.
“That’s why we come,” said Allison Page, 32, who was walking Hernandez the puppy. “It’s a nice respite from the day-to-day chaos.”
The noisiest spot was at West 18th Street, where the park is closest to the avenue.
Because people breathe more heavily during exercise, the findings are especially good news for joggers. The researchers note that as runners huff and puff in the park, they inhale much less car exhaust, dust and metal fragments than they would if they were on the sidewalk.
“Now I just have another reason to come up here,” said resident Justin Taylor, 35, adding he aims to exercise in the park but is happy to just veg out, too.
“I come here to decompress and take in the views and plants.”