Responding to mounting outrage that followed a recent report in the NY Times, the developer of Hudson Yards has denied they are pursuing plans to build a wall along the High Line -- even as one Chelsea community board member says "preliminary drawings" were shown to him as well as several representatives from City Council Speaker Corey Johnson's office.

On Friday, Times' architecture critic Michael Kimmelman broke the news that executives from Related Companies had been talking to community officials about a plan to install a giant wall roughly 700 feet long next to and overshadowing the High Line in order to accomodate a parking garage. The story did not identify the community officials but went on to quote several elected officials, state Senator Brad Hoylman, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who said they had gotten wind of the concept. From the beginning, the so-called Western Yard of Hudson Yards, the area from 11th to 12th Avenues between West 30th and West 33rd Streets, was intended to be open and inviting to the public, and the response from the community was uniformly negative.

On Wednesday, Related aggressively pushed back on the story in a series of tweets that referred to "a lot of misinformation in the public domain." The developer said that it had always intended to build an open space and included one of the early renderings. "There has never been a wall along the High Line and there will never be a wall," one of the tweets read.

Following the tweets, Gothamist reached out to Community Board 4 chair Lowell Kern, who said that Related officials presented a plan to him that included a wall.

In a statement, he said, "[Manhattan Community Board 4] asked for a meeting with Related in December because we wanted to stay ahead of the design process for the Western Rail Yards. At that meeting with Speaker Johnson’s office, Related shared what they told us were very preliminary drawings that included the wall that is currently in the news. MCB4 made clear that any wall would not be acceptable to us. MCB4 is very pleased to hear that Related does not want to wall off the HighLine from the Western Rail Yards."

Johnson's office did not immediately respond to questions about the meeting. But he did respond to Related on Twitter, saying "This is good news to hear."

Hoylman said he was informed about the plan with the wall from Friends of the High Line, the nonprofit conservancy that operates the park. He said he also heard that Community Board 4 had been briefed about the plans and that he too had seen a hard-copy drawing. In its story, the Times reproduced their own version of the drawing.

Reached for comment, Robert Hammond, the co-founder of the High Line project and the executive director of Friends of the High Line, said, "We're happy that Related has clarified and said they don’t want to build a wall. We’re grateful for people to be so enthusiastic about the issue."

The reluctance by some to speak suggests that even though there was outrage to Related's plan, maintaining a working relationship with the developer is still important. The $25 billion project, which officially opened last year, is now moving onto its second phase. But the 28-acre development has not come without a cost to taxpayers. According to a study by the New School, tax breaks and other forms of government subsidies added up to nearly $6 billion.

Hoylman, who retweeted Related's comments along with his own on Wednesday, said he viewed the developer as "slinking away from a concept they they had floated" after facing immediate criticism.

"They wanted to test the waters by floating the concept," he said, adding, "I’m glad that they've rethought the plan."

UPDATE: The story has been updated with a comment from Robert Hammond.