Vessel (structure)

Structure Vessel is a 16-story, structure of connected staircases among the buildings of Hudson Yards, located in the Hudson Yards Public Square. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, Vessel has 154 flights, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings, The copper-clad steps, arranged like a jungle gym can hold 1,000 people at a time. Vessel is wide at its base, expanding to at the apex. At the top of the structure, visitors can see the Hudson River. The space hosts 28,000 plants and 225 trees in total. A canopy of trees is located in the southern area of the plaza. The southeast entrance to the plaza also includes a fountain. A "seasonally expressive" garden stands across from Vessel outside the entrance to the New York City Subway's 34th Street–Hudson Yards station. The plaza is also connected to the High Line, an elevated promenade that extends south of Hudson Yards. Cost and assembly Although Vessel had originally been slated to cost $75 million, == History ==

In an interview with Fortune magazine, Ross said that he "wanted to commission something transformational, monumental", which led to the concept for Vessel. The concept of Vessel was presented to the public on September 14, 2016, Construction started on April 18 with the installation of the first 10 pieces of the 75-piece structure. It was projected for completion in the spring of 2019, with the other 65 pieces arriving in five batches. The structure topped out in December 2017. In October 2018, it was announced that the opening of Vessel had been scheduled for March 15, 2019, and that tickets to enter the structure would become available in February. By January 2019, Hudson Yards officials were soliciting public suggestions for a rename of Vessel. Though the structure had no official name, the Hudson Yards website called it the "Hudson Yards Staircase". Vessel opened as scheduled on March 15, 2019. Hudson Yards initially claimed to own any photo taken of Vessel. This drew criticism, not least because the developers had been given $4.5 billion of public money, and Hudson Yards quickly stopped claiming to own others' photos of Vessel. Starting in 2025, Vessel was illuminated at night during the winter holiday season. Suicides On February 1, 2020, a 19-year-old man jumped from the sixth floor of the structure and died, apparently the first such incident involving Vessel. On December 22, 2020, a 24-year-old woman jumped from the top of the structure and also died. Less than a month later, on January 11, 2021, a 21-year-old man jumped from Vessel. Following this third death, the structure was indefinitely closed while the Related Companies consulted with experts on a strategy to prevent suicides. Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods hired a suicide prevention expert, who suggested adding netting or raising the glass barriers. Vessel was reopened at the end of May 2021, but all visitors were required to be accompanied by at least one other person. In addition, after the first hour of each day, all visitors older than five years old had to pay $10 for a ticket. Revenue from ticket sales was to fund safety upgrades. After this fourth death, Vessel was again closed indefinitely. By August 2022, Hudson Yards officials were testing safety nets around Vessel in preparation for the structure's possible reopening. After full-height steel mesh nets were installed on each level, news media reported in early 2024 that Vessel would reopen later that year, though the top level would remain closed. On October 21, 2024, Vessel reopened; initially, only the lowest two levels and parts of the upper levels were open to the public. == Reception ==

Fortune writer Shawn Tully called Vessel "Manhattan's answer to the Eiffel Tower", Several commentators have referred to the structure as the Giant Shawarma. Speaking about the structure's design process, Heatherwick said, "We had to think of what could act as the role of a landmarker. Something that could help give character and particularity to the space." David Colon of Gothamist called Vessel "a bold addition to the city's landscape". Public Art Fund president Susan Freedman liked the renderings for Vessel but called it "a leap of faith in terms of scale". She said there might be too much demand for Vessel, especially considering the structure's proximity to the High Line. CityLabs Feargus O'Sullivan called Vessel, along with Heatherwick's other numerous billionaire-funded developments and architectural projects, "a gaudy monument to being only ever-so-slightly free." Some called it a "piece of junk" and an "eyesore", and contrasted it negatively to Cloud Gate, also known as The Bean, in Millennium Park, Chicago. Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune called it "willful and contrived". Vessel was initially largely inaccessible for wheelchair users. It consisted mainly of stairs, with only a single elevator to connect one of the sets of landings, and drew protests from disability-rights groups outside the structure. The United States Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging that because of the number of separate landings within Vessel, most of the structure was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, except for the portions directly outside the elevator. Furthermore, elevator stops on the fifth and seventh stories or mezzanines were sometimes skipped due to overcrowding concerns. In December 2019, Related Companies and Vessel operator ERY Vessel LLC reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to increase accessibility to the structure by adding wheelchair lifts and retaining elevator access to all levels. == Gallery ==

File:Hudson Yards Plaza March 2019 27.jpg|Entrance File:The Vessel, Hudson Yards, New York City, June 2019.jpg|View from inside File:Vessel top vc.png|View from the top File:Hudson Yards Vessel IMG 3553 HLG.jpg|Aerial view File:The Vessel (top-down view), Hudson Yards, New York City, July 2019.jpg|Top-down view File:The Vessel at Night 2021.jpg|Vessel at night during the 2021 holiday season == References ==