CONFIRMED89% CONFIDENCEConfirmed against contemporaneous coverage of the public opening. Happened as dated, per the source[1]: "The Vessel opened to the public on March 15, 2019".
- Start
- Mar 15, 201990% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
The Vessel Opens at Hudson Yards
Thomas Heatherwick's climbable honeycomb staircase, The Vessel, opens to the public as the centrepiece of Manhattan's new Hudson Yards district.
- Vessel, designed by Heatherwick Studio, opened to the public on 15 March 2019 with timed free tickets from 12pm, alongside the other Hudson Yards phase one public spaces; it had first been unveiled in September 2016[3]
- The structure has 154 staircases, 80 landings and about a mile of walkways, standing 150 feet high and 150 feet wide at the top and narrowing at the base, with a sloping lift to the top; copper-coloured metal soffits over concrete inside[3]
- Heatherwick Studio's Stuart Wood: "It's not a building, it's not a sculpture, it's not an artwork... we're thinking of this as a piece of furniture", with the Spanish Steps in Rome as a reference; a public competition was to decide its permanent name[3]
- It stands on a landscaped plaza by Nelson Byrd Woltz at Hudson Yards, built over a 28-acre active rail yard and billed as "the largest private development in the US"; 15 Hudson Yards and The Shed (programming from 5 April 2019) opened with it, and a second phase adds eight towers[3]
- CNN, reporting later (Oct 27, 2024), agrees the Vessel opened in March 2019 at 150 feet tall and names Related Companies as owner[2]
- What followed the opening: the Vessel closed in January 2021 after three suicides and reopened with security measures, then closed for over three years after a 14-year-old's suicide in July 2021 - four suicides in all - before reopening in October 2024 with bespoke safety netting designed by Heatherwick Studio[2]
- Hudson Yards COO Andrew Rosen said the netting "balances all the aesthetic concerns... and also provide that safety", while critics including Jacob Alspector and Matt Shaw said it addresses safety but leaves the structure "gaudy and ungainly", and that early warnings about low barriers were ignored[2]
- [1] is The B1M's video "Why We Should Celebrate (Not Hate) New York's Vessel", published 2020-01-29 and narrated by Fred Mills, arguing against the criticism the Hudson Yards centrepiece drew in its first year; the page carries no figures of its own[1]
References 389% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%youtube.com/watch?v=96g50wJfCAQyoutube.com· Posted Sep 15, 2026· Starts Mar 15, 2019 ✓· 93% of score
Confirmed against contemporaneous coverage of the public opening. Happened as dated, per the source: "The Vessel opened to the public on March 15, 2019".
- [2]75%The Vessel in NYC's Hudson Yards reopens with safety netting - CNNcnn.com· Published Oct 27, 2024· 7% of score
- [3]82%Heatherwick's Vessel at Hudson Yards opens to the public - Dezeendezeen.com· Published Mar 15, 2019· 0% of score
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