Vessel, a New York City tourist attraction made up of staircases and platforms, reopened Monday with new safety measures after being closed since 2021 following a string of suicides.
The climbable, honeycomblike, eight-floor structure opened in 2019 and offered visitors a view of the area and backdrops for social media.
It now has floor-to-ceiling steel mesh netting on certain sections from the third to the seventh floors. The bottom two floors have no netting, while the top floor is blocked off because netting couldn’t be installed, according to the New York Post.
Only the netted sections, consisting of four stairwells and connected platforms, will be open to the public, according to WNBC.
People who want to see the views from the top can do so from a single section at the exit of the structure’s elevator, according to The Associated Press.
Visitors can access Vessel from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily for $10, although the last call for entering is at 8 p.m. Tickets are free for children ages 5 and under. New York City residents can visit for free on Thursdays with a reservation and proof of identity upon entry.
“Not a day goes by that we don’t have visitors walking up to our staff asking where they can buy tickets and when it will reopen. That interest hasn’t diminished during the time we’ve been closed, and we’re excited to welcome guests from all around the world back to Vessel with additional safety measures in place,” Jeff Blau, CEO of Related Cos., which owns Manhattan’s Hudson Yards area where Vessel is located, told ARTnews magazine.
Visitor reviews of the reopened Vessel are mixed.
“You still get a lot of the good views but not being able to access the whole thing takes away from the experience a little bit. It’s literally just a series of stairs but it makes an impact and you get great views. It feels selfish to be like ‘oh this sucks that people killed themselves so now it’s closed off.’ It limited some of the attraction,” Connor Hamilton, visiting from San Diego, told the Post.
Daniel Palumbo of Pennsville Township, New Jersey, told AP, “The netting is good, not only for safety but for people like myself that are afraid of heights.”
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.