Vessel At Related’s Hudson Yards Is Reopening With New Safety Measures

Related Cos. is reopening its centerpiece at Hudson Yards this week, after multiple suicides drove it to close in January.

As of Friday, the Vessel will be accessible once again, but only to people in groups of two, the New York Post reports. The number of security staff will be increased and suicide prevention messages are being put up at the entrances. Instead of free access, all-day tickets will now cost $10, which is said to go into improving the safety measures.

“Vessel was envisioned as a shared, immersive design experience. Requiring visitors to attend in groups of two or more significantly enhances the safety of the experience,” a Related Cos. representative told the Post. “Our goal is to ensure that every visit to the Vessel is as safe as possible.”

Three people killed themselves in a year at the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Vessel, which is made up of 154 interconnected flights of stairs, 2,500 steps and 80 landings. The entire structure is 150 feet tall. It was officially opened in 2019 and has been visited by 2.5 million people.

Related also told the Post it is putting in place measures to detect high-risk behavior from patrons.

The attraction has faced many challenges in the past year. The structure is right at the entrance to the Hudson Yards mall, where Neiman Marcus occupied a massive space until it went bankrupt last year.

Plus, like much of the city, it has been hit by the dearth of tourists. Around 66 million people came to the city in 2019, but in 2020 that number fell to 22 million people, with most of them visiting before the coronavirus pandemic.