Transportation in 1999. Repurposing proposal A nonprofit organization called Friends of the High Line was formed in October 1999 by Joshua David and Robert Hammond. They advocated its preservation and reuse as public open space, an elevated park or greenway similar to the Promenade Plantée in Paris. The concept also drew inspiration from Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord, Germany — a precedent for urban and industrial repurposing in modern landscaping. The organization was initially a small community group advocating the High Line's preservation and transformation when the structure was threatened with demolition during Rudy Giuliani’s second term as mayor. In 2000, CSX Transportation gave photographer Joel Sternfeld permission to photograph it for a year. Sternfeld's photographs of its meadow-like natural beauty, discussed in an episode of the documentary series Great Museums, were used at public meetings when the subject of saving the High Line was discussed. Mary Boone's art gallery, as well as Martha Stewart and Edward Norton, hosted fundraising benefits for the High Line in 2001 and 2002 respectively. Fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg (who had moved her New York City headquarters to the Meatpacking District in 1997) and her husband, Barry Diller, also organized fundraising events in her studio. In 2003, Friends of the High Line sponsored a design competition that attracted more than 720 participants from 38 countries. Proposals included a sculpture garden, an elongated swimming pool, and a linear amusement park/campground. In July 2003, Edward Norton and Robert Caro hosted a benefit event at Grand Central Terminal, where the submissions for the design contest were exhibited. The same month, a bipartisan group of city officials began petitioning the federal Surface Transportation Board to hand over title to the viaduct for park use. In anticipation of this handover, the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans for a High Line park that September. The following year, the New York City government committed $50 million to establish the proposed park. Mayor Bloomberg and City Council speakers Gifford Miller and Christine C. Quinn were among the major supporters. Fundraising for the park raised a total of over $150 million (). The Surface Transportation Board issued a certificate of interim trail use on June 13, 2005, allowing the city to remove most of the line from the national rail system. Ownership officially passed from CSX to the city that November. Linear park Reconstruction and design On April 10, 2006, Mayor Bloomberg presided over