SAFETY UPDATE

NYC’s Vessel Will Finally Reopen With Safeguards After Spate of Suicides

The attraction has been closed since 2021, after four people died by suicide on the landmark.

The futuristic Hudson Yards installation The Vessel will reopen later this year with added safety barriers, according to a representative of Hudson Yards owner Related companies. Those features include hardy “floor-to-ceiling steel mesh” that’s designed to withstand any severe weather or attempts to cut it, the rep said, while still “preserving the unique experience” and views The Vessel provides. The top two floors, however, will remain closed because they are impossible to secure with the mesh, and only the bottom two levels will be completely reopened, the rep added. Only certain secured areas of the middle levels will be accessible. No exact reopening date was given, although it is expected sometime in 2024. The Vessel has been closed since August 2021, after four young people—all in their teens or 20s—plunged to their deaths in separate suicides there between 2020 and 2021. It previously tried other suicide-prevention policies, like requiring visitors to come in pairs, but that didn’t stop the fourth and final tragedy from happening in July 2021.